Breaking the Chains, Forging the Links
by Tarja the wind witch
Summary: TPM AU. Maul and Obi-Wan both fall into the chute in the Royal Palace of Theed. As they are forced to collaborate to get out of the tunnels alive, they both realise that things are not necessarily has they had been told and that the truth is much more complicated. Some chains imprison, but some links make you stronger. Eventual slash.
1. Down

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Star Wars characters. I do own the OCs, though. I do not make a £ from this.**

After reading "Lockdown" and watching the two final seasons of Clone Wars, this almost started to write itself on its own.

It's hard to read/watch anything involving Darth Maul without feeling even a bit of pity towards him.  
Child soldier? Check.  
Parental abandonement? Check.  
Life-changing injury? Check.  
And the list goes on...  
So here is an AU where he can experience some positive interactions and find a bit of peace.  
Will eventually be Maul/Obi-Wan (rather slow burn).

Flame all you want, I'm fireproof.

* * *

It had all happened in an instant. The Sith assassin butted Master Qui-Gon with the end of his mutilated double-bladed saber, reversed the grip and plunged the blade home in the Jedi's midriff, angling it so that it penetrated upwards, searing a path through the diaphragm and the lungs.

Trapped behind the energy barrier, Obi-Wan yelled in impotent fury. Despite years of training in the path of the Jedi, despite all the warnings against the darker emotions he had heard, he could not help feeling a wave of anger and hate fill him to the brim.

On the other side of the barrier, the Sith was smiling in satisfaction, baring pointy-looking teeth. His yellow eyes gleamed in his black-and-red face. His expression and posture clearly said that he was having the time of his life and could't wait for more to come.  
"Come on, little Padawan, don't you want to avenge your master?" he taunted, pacing back and forth in front of the barrier, like a big cat on the prowl.

"I'll kill you!" Obi-Wan bellowed, tossing all restraint to the wind.

"You might try..." replied the Sith, with a broader smile.

As if by magic, the energy barrier suddenly disappeared with a whirring sound.  
Obi-Wan roared and launched himself at his smiling foe. He had to be quick if he wanted to save his Master's life yet.  
The Sith however, was undaunted by his display of fury and fended him off almost lazily with the remaining blade of his saber. Obi-Wan redoubled his efforts in desperation, allowing his form to become sloppy to gain extra speed and try to find an opening in his foe's defenses.  
That was a capital mistake, he realised, as the Sith kicked his saber away from his grasp and, profiting from his imbalance, partly kicked him, partly Force-pushed him back into the waste-pit.  
It was only thanks to quick reflexes and sheer luck that he managed to hold onto a sensor projecting from the metal-clad wall.

A foot or so above him, the Sith was again prowling, as if considering his next move, his lightsaber loosely dangling from his grasp and oscillating back and forth, like the tail of an irritated cat. Obi-Wan struggled to find a foothold, even a slight chink in the cladding, to heave himself up, all the while bracing himself for the finishing downward thrust that was sure to come.  
He looked up and briefly caught the eye of his foe. As strange as it might seem, he looked not at all satisfied, even a little tacken aback, like a housecat who realises he has broken too soon the back of the mouse he had been toying with.  
"Come on, little Padawan, is this all you've got?" the Sith asked, trailing his saber along the rim of the pit and showering him with sparks.  
"Good thing your Master is dead then... What a shame..." he added with a wide grin.

A red veil descended over Obi-Wan's eyes and somehow his anger gave him the strength to Force-jump like never before, somersaulting over his perplexed foe's horned head and landing on firm ground behind him. The Sith had barely time to turn, before a well-aimed roundhouse kick spun the saber away from his grip. Seamlessly, Obi-Wan pulled his Master's lightsaber into his hand, activated it with barely a thought and a flick of the wrist and slashed with all his might, aiming at the Sith's midsection and hoping to make as much damage as possible.  
The light-blade sliced through flesh with a dull sizzle, and the Sith's face contorted into a grimace of shock and pain. He had somehow managed to partially dodge the blow and avoid being cut in half at the waist, however Obi-Wan's lightsaber had very nearly disembowelled him.  
The Sith teetered on the edge of the pit, doubling up and almost collapsing in pain, and the full weight of what he had done hit the young Padawan: he had raised his blade in anger, seeking revenge for a personal grudge. He had defated a much more skilled foe, but the triumph tasted like ashes in his mouth.  
Still struggling to stand, the defeated Sith stumbled backwards, almost tipping into the pit.  
Lost in contemplation of his fault, Obi-Wan instinctively reached out with his hand and the Sith grasped it with his gloved one.  
"You're coming with me..." the Sith rasped, intentionally propelling himself backwards.  
Caught off-balance, Obi-Wan could not mount any efficient response and fell hurtling into the void, still holding his opponent's hand.

Obi-Wan awoke to the sound of something shuffling near him. Disoriented, he stuggled to sit up. His body felt sore all over and his head felt as heavy as a ton of bricks.  
He opened his eyes to unfamiliar surroundings, a wasteland of broken and disused junk and organic refuse, from dismantled droids to rotten carcasses of dogs and kitchen waste. The ceiling was low and metal-clad, rounded like a vault and mostly lost in the shadows of the scarce lighting. The air was oppressively hot and humid and reeked like rust, mold and putrefaction.  
Obi-Wan shook his head, trying to clear it and identify his surroundings. He remembered fighting, giving in to his anger and then a pair of taunting yellow eyes widening in horror and disbelief.  
And then the rush of air all around him and the desperate bid to alter their course, away from the plasma reactor down below...

The pit! His foe must have succeeded in pulling him in as he fell, he realised, just as something hard hit him over the head and something heavy fell upon him, growling savagely.  
Instinctively, with his vision blackening from the force of the blow, Obi-Wan rolled with the blow and planted his feet, trying to throw his attacker over his head, whoever they might be. They screamed in pain as they landed awkwardly a few feet away. Obi-Wan blinked repeatedly and shook his head again and his attacker picked itself up, panting and whimpering.  
By the faint light of the service lighting, the Padawan watched in horrified fascination as the Sith he had nearly cut in half not long before tried to rise to his feet, holding a length of pipe in one hand and trying to keep his intestines in with the other.

He should not be able to do this, Obi-Wan thought fuzzily.

He barely pulled himself together in time to avoid the clumsy but powerful blow. Obi-Wan extended a leg and tripped the Sith, sending him sprawling on the refuse-covered ground. A kick sent the pipe flying away from his weakened grasp, but the Sith still had some fight left in him, even if Obi-Wan didn't understand how.  
Screaming in pain and anger, he launched himself at Obi-Wan's legs, pulling him to the ground, and frantically tried to strangle him, or bash his head in with any piece of refuse he could find, or his own bare hands.  
Obi-Wan had a hard time fending off the savage onslaught and only little by little, using every bit of training and discipline he could muster, he managed to force his foe against the floor.  
Even then, the only way he had to finally subdue him and make him stop struggling once and for all was to basically sit on him and apply pressure on the terrible wound in his stomach. The Sith howled in agony, arching back and struggling to escape from the pain, then his body relaxed as he most likely passed out from the sheer suffering. Obi-Wan felt like throwing up from the mere idea of what he was doing, but there was no other way.  
As soon as the struggle stopped, he relieved the pressure and sat back, blocking the Sith's legs with his weigth and pinning his wrists to the ground with his feet.  
His breath came in hard pants and gasps from the exertion of the savage fight and his whole body was covered in sweat.  
Even horribly wounded, the Sith had given it as good as he got, as his probably broken nose could attest. Blood was slowly dripping on his face and was smeared on his hands and clothes.  
What was he supposed to do now? If he let him free there was the concrete possibility that the Sith would try again to attack him. The easiest solution would be to kill him, smother him with his bare hands, or bash his head in with some piece of rubble, or plunge that shard of ceramic over there into a staring yellow eye.

Returned to consciousness, the Sith arched his neck and tilted his horned head to follow his gaze. He deliberately relaxed as he turned his gaze towards the Padawan.  
"Do it." he said, as if it dis not really matter. His voice was thick and rough with pain and his breath laboured, but his expression was surprisingly accepting for one who had just been struggling like a man possessed until a moment before.  
Feeling deeply ashamed of his thoughts, Obi-Wan averted his gaze. How could have he thought of killing a man, even an enemy, in cold blood? Thoughts like those led unerringly to the Dark Side.  
"Do it! - the Sith repeated, more forcefully - Come on, little Padawan, I know you want it. I've seen it in your eyes." he panted with a wry smile on his lips.  
Obi-Wan shook his head and closed his eyes. Now that he had realised what he had been about to do, there was no way he could give in to the temptation.  
"Come on, you spineless bastard! - the Sith cursed- I've killed your precious Master. I'm what you hate most. Come on! Avenge your Master. Grow a pair and kill me!" he exclaimed trying to struggle again, but much more weakly than before.

At his words, Obi-Wan felt the red veil obscuring his vision once again. It would be so easy to give in to temptation, no one would need to know about what happened there in the dark. The Sith would be dead and his master would be avenged, what mattered if he had killed him during their duel or afterwards?  
"No! " he yelled eventually, the sound echoing under the vaulted roof. He unwittingly infused his words with enough Force to make the superficial layer of refuse on the ground near them scatter away. The Sith's yellow eyes widened in surprise.  
"Are you so eager to die?" Obi-Wan growled, keeping his anger at bay.  
The Sith shook his head. "I would have preferred to kill you, but I can't now, can I? - he rasped, gritting his teeth against the pain - I've been defeated, I've failed my Master, death is nothing more than what I deserve." he added in a totally matter-of-fact way.  
Obi-Wan stared at him in disbelief. Did he really walue his own life so little to be totally indifferent to his own death?  
"I won't give it to you." he replied with determination.  
The Sith sighed and closed his eyes. "What do you plan to do with me then?" he asked wearily.  
"This is not for me to decide. - he replied - You are a prisoner of the Jedi Council, it is for them to decide about your fate."  
The Sith laughed a wry little laugh. "I highly doubt there will be much left for them to decide." he commented dryly.  
"Why?" Obi-Wan asked, arching an eyebrow in perplexity.  
The Sith sighed again. "Do you realise you've gutted me like a fish and that we've been rolling in filth until now? - he said as if explaining a simple concept to a not overly bright child - If the wound does not kill me, the infection will. I'm a dead man walking. It would be easier for us both if you would just kill me now."  
"Sorry, but this is not an option. We'll have to do this the hard way." Obi-Wan replied.  
"Damn you and your rules, Jedi! - the Sith cursed, banging the back of his head against the floor in frustration - This is bloody ridiculous!"  
Obi-Wan shrugged. "If I free your hands, will you keep on fighting me?" he asked, considering his next move.  
The Sith appeared to ponder the question for a moment, then sighed. "I've hardly got any fight left in me." he said wryly.  
The Padawan nodded. "Good." he said and let go of his foe's wrists to pat at his utility belt in search of his commlink. The apparatus appeared to have miraculously survived the fall and he quickly tapped the code of the commander of the palace guards.

"What are you doing?" the Sith asked. True to his word, he had not tried anything funny yet and had just lain there, breathing shallowly.  
"Calling for help. If only this damned thing would work..." Obi-Wan replied, gritting his teeth in frustration at the lack of any response from the machine. Evidently something must have stopped working even in the absence of visible damage.  
"It won't work. - the Sith said - We're far below ground where the signal from the netlink of the palace cannot reach us."  
"Damn it! - Obi-Wan cursed - We'll have to move towards the exit to find the signal." He stood up, for all intents and purposes freeing the Sith, who however did not move.  
"We?" he simply asked, arching an eyebrow. He struggled to prop himself on an elbow and stared at the Jedi with a confused expression.  
"Right... - Obi-Wan sighed, mentally slapping himself. The Sith was not going to go anywhere with that wound - OK, let's do it like this: I'll go and find help. You stay here good and quiet. I'll come and pick you up as soon as I can, alright?"  
On the Sith's patterned visage appeared an expression of genuine panic. "No! - he exclaimed - You can't do this! Kill me instead! I'd rather have any other death than be left here to feed the scavengers!"  
"The scavengers?" Obi-Wan repeated, uncomprehending. The Sith just nodded, clearly alarmed and struggling to sit up.

As if on cue, something rustled among the rubbish and Obi-Wan imagined he could distinguish red-gleaming eyes in the darkness. Scavengers, rats most likely, but probably also something worse. He'd heard some pretty disgusting stories about what a swarm of rats could do to a child or a wounded man when in a feeding frenzy. The mere thought was enough to make him nauseous.  
"Force help me!" he whispered under his breath, digging his hands in his hair.  
The Sith had managed to somehow crawl towards the wall and was trying to leverage himself up in a franctic effort. "I can walk." he said, wide-eyed.  
"You'll have to." sighed Obi-Wan, hunkering down next to him and stilling him with a hand on his shoulder. The Sith stiffened and seemed on the verge of a violent reaction.  
"Easy there! - Obi-Wan said, taking his hand off him - That wound needs to be seen to, before you can try to walk."  
The Sith forced himself to relax and nodded, swallowing hard. He was not looking forward to having it done, but neither was Obi-Wan. He had been trained in first aid, but that was very much outside his area of competence. He had first-aid bacta-pack in one of his pockets, but it was pitifully small and had nothing he could actually use as bandages.  
"Can you sit up?" he asked.  
The Sith nodded and complied with an agonised grimace. Obi-Wan quickly untied the two layers of the Sith's robe, uncovering more red-and-black patterned skin and a huge, gaping wound. Thankfully the blade had cauterised it, so that it wasn't bleeding too much, but still... He quickly averted his eyes, unwittingly meeting the Sith's yellow gaze.  
"You're still in time to change idea." the Sith said in a soft, strained voice.  
Obi-Wan shook his head and produced the bacta-pack, tearing the packaging with his teeth. For a moment, the strong, pungent smell of antiseptic overpowered the stench of refuse.  
"I've got one too." the Sith said, handing him another small package from one of his pockets. Combining the two, he would have barely enough to thinly cover the wound.  
"This is going to hurt." Obi-Wan warned.  
The Sith nodded and lay back against the wall. "I know. Do it already. It won't get any better for waiting." he replied impatiently.

Obi-Wan acquiesced and set to his task. He tried to be as gentle as possible, but between how deep the wound was and the fact that the ointment burned even on shallow grazes, he knew he was causing his prisoner an enormous amount of pain. The Sith closed his eyes and arched his back, baring his sharp teeth in a grimace of agony. His left fist was beating on the floor and tears were streaming out of the corners of his eyes, but apart from his shallow, panting breaths, no sound was escaping his lips.  
Obi-Wan finished as quickly as he managed and took his own outer layers off, wiping his blood-caked hands on them and discarding them on the floor. Thanking the Force for always feeling slightly cold, he took off his undershirt and packed it against the wound. It was the only remotely clean thing he could improvise a bandage with.  
The Sith manged to open his eyes again and a quiet whimper escaped his lips at the slight pressure.  
"Nearly done. - Obi-Wan tried to reassure him - If I use your sash to tie the bandage, will your trousers fall off? Because mine would, you know?" he added unnecessarily, hoping to distract him from the pain.  
The Sith expelled a quiet laugh. "Go for it." he allowed.

Obi-Wan tried to smile reassuringly and untied the sash from the Sith's waist and re-wrapped it slightly higher, hoping to keep the inner bandage in position and his bowels in.  
"All done. - he announced, as cheerily as he could muster as he donned his tunic and jacket once more- How are you feeling?"  
The Sith rolled his eyes and shook his head at the absurdity of the question. "Still alive, for now." he replied.  
"Can you stand?" Obi-Wan asked.  
"Do I have any choice?" the other replied.  
The Jedi shook his head.  
"Thought so." the Sith commented with sarcasm, trying again to haul himself to his feet with the help of the wall. Obi-Wan could tell that the manouver was causing him a lot of discomfort. He would never ask a Jedi for help, even of ot cost him his life, Obi-Wan could well imagine it, his pride would not allow it. If he wanted to prevent the prisoner from suffering needlessly for his stubborness he had to offer his help on his own accord.

"Here, lean on me." he offered, approaching his wounded foe and setting his left arm over his own shoulder. The Sith tried to avoid the contact, recoiling slightly towards the wall.  
"I don't need your help." he lied.  
"I know. - Obi-Wan acquiesced nonetheless - Just humour me, will you? We need to get out of here as soon as we can."  
The Sith nodded almost imperceptibly and set part of his weigth upon Obi-Wan's shoulders. Bracing upon him and the wall both, the Sith managed to get his feet under him and push himself up with his legs, panting with exertion. He wobbled and staggered but managed to hold himself upright seemingly by sheer force of will.  
"Do you need a breather?" Obi-Wan asasked, concerned.  
The Sith shook his head. "Let's go." he rasped, digging his fingers in the Jedi's shoulder and clawing at the wall with his other hand. Obi-Wan wrapped his right arm around the Sith's waist, steadying him and slowly, painstakingly, the odd couple began to advance, step by painful step.


	2. Walking through Hell

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Star Wars characters. I do own the OCs, though. I do not make a £ from this.**

Maul starts to realise that things are not necessarily as his master told him.

Warning: mild language and implied gore.

Flame all you want, I'm fireproof!

* * *

As they walked quietly down the tunnel, Obi-Wan tried to ignore the physical nearness to his charge and he had the impression that the Sith was doing his best to ignore it too.  
It was not easy though: even though it was just where the Sith's patterned arm rested on his shoulder, rising just above the collar of his untied tunic, and where his own hand rested against the man's side, where his tunic had ridden up, this was probably the most skin-to-skin contact he'd ever had since childhood. The Sith's patterned skin was smooth and warm, much warmer than a human's would be. He wracked his brains trying to recall exactly what had been said during his first aid lessons. There was little doubt that the Sith was a Zabrak, the horns and the penchant for tattoos was a dead giveaway, and they were supposed to run slightly hotter than humans. The Sith's skin felt really quite hot, but there was no way of telling if it was because of some weird stuff the Dark Side had done to him, or because an infection was already settling in.

Obi-Wan tried not to think about it and tapped into the Force, scanning their surroundings for presences. The tunnel was quiet except for the Sith's harsh breathing, but as they trudged along he could feel several hungry somethings shadowing them. They were not Dark or evil, just mindless. To them, anything organic that entered their tunnels, be it alive or dead, was food.  
From the acceleration of his breath and heartbeat, Obi-Wan could tell that the Sith was aware of their presence and did not like it anymore than he did, possibly less.  
The Jedi extended his perception towards him: to his mind's eye, he appeared for a moment as a black shadow, coursed by ruddy sparks of anger and pain.

The Sith forcefully ejected him, using so much of himself to do it, that he stumbled, catching himself against the wall with a growl.  
"Stay out of my head!" he snarled defensively.  
Feeling his head ache slightly from the blow, Obi-Wan nodded. He really should not have done that: the Sith was so weak that he could barely keep his mental shields up and walk at the same time. He really did not want to see what was inside a Sith's mind.  
"Sorry. - he said- I didn't mean to... Nevermind, we must keep moving." he added, changing topic. He felt guilty about unwittingly exploiting his weakness. Judging from his proud demeanor, it must be really uncomfortable for him to feel weak, especially in front of an enemy.

After a while, however, the silence in the tunnels became oppressive and Obi-Wan caught himself twitching at every small rustle, imagining a swarm of ravenous rats ready to pounce on them at every turn.  
"What's your name again?" he asked the Sith, just to break the silence.  
"I didn't tell you." he replied curtly, barely glancing in his direction.  
"Well, tell me then. - the Jedi insisted - What's the difference to you?"  
The Sith rolled his eyes. "I'm Darth Maul." he capitulated.  
"Maul as in rip stuff to pieces?" Obi-Wan asked.  
The Sith nodded, betraying a hint of embarassment.  
"Well, I guess it must be cool if you are, you know... like you, I mean..."  
Maul looked at him in confusion, arching an eyebrow. Well, Obi-Wan thought ruefully, as an attempt at idle conversation this has gone swimmingly...  
"Nevermind. - he continued, talking to cover his embarassment - I'm..."  
"You are Obi-Wan Kenobi and you talk too much." the Sith anticipated.  
"How do you know my name?" the Jedi asked, eyes wide in surprise.  
Maul tried to shrug. "I had been commissioned a hit on your Master, it made sense to research you both. Preparation is one of the secrets of victory." he explained dispassionately.  
"A hit? - Obi-Wan repeated and the Sith nodded - You're what? Some sort of pro killer? So it was just like any other job to you?" he asked, indignant.  
Maul shook his horned head. "Not like any other job, not at all. - he replied - Do you know how long I'd been waiting for the chance to duel a proper Jedi Master? I've been training for years to be ready for my chance when it would come. And to duel not just any old Jedi, but Qui-Gonn Jin, a master swordsman... It was priceless, a true honour." he added with a faraway, almost dreamy expression.

Obi-Wan blinked repeatedly, trying to make sense of the Sith's words. He didn't know whether they made him angry or just sad.  
"So, run this by me again: you admired my Master and you wanted to kill him anyway?" he asked finally.  
"Not kill him. Defeat him in a duel. Sword against sword and may the best man win." Maul replied as if it made all the difference in the world.  
"If I had just wanted to kill him to see him dead, I'd have gunned him down on Tatooine." he added, grimacing in pain.  
Obi-Wan shook his head. "But why?" he asked.  
"Because he was a Jedi and I am, well... me, and that's what I am meant to do, this is my purpose." Maul replied.  
"So you were specifically trained to kill Jedi?" Obi-Wan asked.  
The Sith nodded. "Yes. This is what my Master wanted from me. He trained me for all my life for this." he replied.  
"You must be really miffed that it was a Padawan like me to defeat you..." he commented acerbic.  
Maul shrugged, or tried to and stopped halfway trough with a soft gasp of pain. "My fault. I shouldn't have underestimated you, but I would have never imagined that you would have dipped into the Dark Side to defeat me." he replied.

Obi-Wan lost his breath as surely as if the Sith had given him a punch in the solar plexus.  
"I did not..." he started to argue, feeling a cold sweat creep all over him, but the Sith cut him short.  
"You did. You used your anger to find strength. I know, I do it all the time and I've seen the signs of it in your eyes." he said with certainty.  
Obi-Wan could not find the spirit or the words to reply. It took all his concentration just to keep on his feet under the blow. He had known it as soon as it had happened, he just didn't have the courage to admit it even to himself.  
"There is nothing wrong with this. Anger is natural. I had just killed your Master." the Sith added. Was he trying to console him?  
The Jedi shook his head, letting the guilt course through him. "I shouldn't have let my darker emotions rule me." he protested.  
"Let's put it this way: if you had acted all like "I'm a Jedi I've got a durasteel pipe up my ass" you'd be dead now. I would have killed you. It was your anger that saved you. - Maul said dispassonately - It gave you the edge you needed, the occasion to surprise your opponent. Anger is a weapon, you should use it as any other." he added.  
Obi-Wan grimaced and huffed in disapproval.  
The Sith sneered, sensing an opening. "You Jedi keep repressing yourselves, thinking that you are better than everybody else and that your shit does not stink, but the truth is that you've got darkness inside of you, you just won't admit it.- he said - Even you've got some in you, little Padawan, and you're so Light that it hurts. I mean, look at you! I've just killed the most important person of your life and you're here, trying to save me..." The Sith laughed quietly to himself, as if it was the funniest thing he'd ever experienced.

For one that thought that he talked too much, he had just had a bad case of motor mouth, Obi-Wan thought. He looked exhausted, though. Probably it was just the pain talking.  
"So what should I do, give in to my darker emotions like a savage beast?" the Jedi asked provocatively, prolonging the surreal conversation.  
"I didn't say that. - Maul said, shaking his head - Emotions are like weapons, you should master them and use them when they are appropriate. It does't mean that you need to be controlled by them and it does not mean that you should pretend you don't feel them at all." he explained.  
Obi-Wan pondered over that argument and found to his dismay that it made more sense than he would have liked.  
"Use how?" he asked. Understanding the enemy could only help him defeat it, he told himself, justifying his curiosity.  
"Well, as motivation, and to gain an upper hand in combat. I suppose you need to understand anger to get your opponent pissed off and careless in a fight, don't you?"  
"Does it work?" Obi-Wan asked, doubtful.  
"Not for me, I fear. - the Sith admitted ruefully - I usually get pissed off much more easily than they do. But it should work in principle. - he insisted - All that stuff about living in the moment and opening oneself up to feel, why shouldn't it extend to emotions as well as sensation?"  
"Is that what the Sith teach to their apprentices?" asked Obi-Wan, genuinely interested.  
Maul hesitated. "I don't know. - he admitted - My Master doesn't often discuss the theory with me and I've learned that it is not my place to ask. I thought this up by myself, probably that's why it does not make much sense." he added self-deprecatively, lips curling into a smirk.  
Obi-Wan laughed softly. "You're quite profound, for a bloodthirsty bastard." dipping his head in mock-salute.  
Maul laughed. It was a surprisingly happy and innocent sound.  
"And you've got a sense of humor for a stuck-up... Ah!" he exclaimed, staggering and doubling up in pain.  
"Hey! What happens?" Obi-Wan asked stopping in his tracks to let him recover.  
"Shouldn't have laughed..." the Sith rasped, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut as the pain gripped him.  
"Do you want to sit down?" Obi-Wan offered, concerned. He was feeling exhausted after the fight, the fall and all the walking, he could only imagine how Maul must be feeling.  
"No! - he replied decisively - If I sit down, I probably won't be able to stand again." he admitted and the Jedi knew that the admission must have cost him much.  
"That bad?" he asked.  
"Worse." Maul replied, leaning his horned head against the wall.  
"We'll be out of here soon, it'll be alright. - Obi-Wan tried to reassure him - Think happy thoughts, like dead kittens... or, don't know, whatever makes you happy."  
The Sith nodded weakly and tried to slow his breathing. "Fighting." he whispered.  
"What?" Obi-Wan asked.  
Maul took a deep breath and clawed at the wall with his free hand. "Fighting makes me happy." he repeated hoarsely.  
"Then think about the rematch you could have against me if you survive.- the Jedi proposed - You could repay me with interests." It didn't make sense, but in the course of the time they had spent down there in the tunnels, it had become important to him that the Sith should survive.  
"It would be a good fight. - he acquiesced - I'd give you a clean death. A warrior's death." he added and Obi-Wan understood that it was a sign of respect, a compliment, somehow.  
"Thanks." he said. He had not thought of finding honor, however twisted, among the Sith.

Maul didn't reply, but somehow managed to straighten up again and push himself off the wall.  
"Let's go. - he whispered - I will not give up yet." he added stubbornly, even if his skin had paled to a sickly orange under the tattoos and sweat was beading on his brow.  
"Good. - Obi-Wan approved, setting them in motion again- You don't look like a quitter."  
The Sith smirked. "Trying to lure me to the Light with your sweet-talk?" he asked.  
"Force forbid! And lose my nemesis now that I've found one? - he joked - No, please, don't laugh, I didn't mean it." he hastily added, seeing the Sith's lips curl into a smile.  
Maul restrained himself and shook his head instead. "You are a weird one, little Padawan." he commented, almost fondly.  
"I have a name, you know?" Obi-Wan replied, piqued  
"Yes, I know." was all the reply he got.  
"And I'm not little. I'm twenty-five." Obi-Wan clarified, rather petulantly.  
"Twenty-five. .. - the Sith repeated - Hardly a child, then. On the verge of investiture, are you? This will be your ticket to knighthood, how you've gone above and beyond the call of duty and crap like that, won't it just?" he asked wryly.  
"I'm not trying to help you because I'm looking for brownie points!" Obi-Wan declared, incensed. Why should he care what a Sith thought of him, he did not know, but nothing was making much sense at that point.  
"No, you're doing it because of my charming personality." Maul said, voice thick with sarcasm.  
"Think what you wish of my motives, as long as you keep walking." the Jedi retorted, irritated.  
The Sith shook his head. "Don't get all worked up, Little Padawan. I know you're so righteous that the Light shines out of your arse. - he commented - By the way, why don't you turn around and light the tunnel?"  
Obi-Wan turned back towards him. "Are you trying to drive me to suicide with your sense of humour?" he asked, smirking and realising that his irritation had already vanished.  
"I already told you that you are mine to kill, didn't I?" Maul retorted smirking as well.  
"Oh, yes... That's so romantic..." Obi-Wan teased, batting his eyelashes.  
Maul stared at him wide-eyed in embarassment. "You have a twisted mind, Jedi." he protested, slightly taken aback.  
Obi-Wan shrugged. "I'm just trying not to think about the situation we landed ourselves into." he explained.  
"You'd be out of here much faster of you didn't have to help me." Maul said calmly.  
"I know. We've already been through this." Obi-Wan replied, feeling the irritation rise again within him.  
"I still don't understand why you are doing this. - Maul sighed, shaking his head - I am your enemy. I will kill you as soon as I have the strength to try." he added, sounding genuinely confused.  
"Just humour my weird Jedi manias, alright? It's already hard enough without having to argue with you every step of the way." Obi-Wan retorted brusquely.  
Maul nodded. "You're right... And don't you try to gloat about this." he chided, frowning.  
Obi-Wan smiled. "Jedi don't gloat. We rejoice." he argued.  
"Same diff... Ah, why did there have to be a bloody safety door?!" Maul exclaimed as they turned the corner, stopping in front of a sealed containment door.

"Well, shit!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, feeling a cold lump of dread settle in his stomach.

The steel might have been slightly rusty and crusted with things better left unsaid, but it was still whole and heavy and forbidding as if it was new.  
Maul nodded in agreement. "I don't suppose you still have your saber..." he asked.  
Obi-Wan shook his head. "It must be at the bottom of the reactor. Together with yours..."  
"Thought so. We'll have to do it the hard way, then." the Sith declared, starting to move again, towards the control panel of the door.  
He stopped next to it and leaned on the wall of the tunnel, letting go of Obi-Wan's shoulder.  
"I can stand. - he reassured - See if you can find anything metal with an edge."  
Obi-Wan gave him a confused look. "What are you trying to do?" he asked.  
"If I can open this panel, I may be able to force the door open." Maul explained.  
Obi-Wan nodded and started scanning the ground for suitable instruments.  
"That OK?" he asked, handing the Sith what looked like the lid of a can of spaceship supplies.  
Maul turned the object in his hands pensively, then nodded. "This should do the trick." he assented, jamming the edge of the lid into the groove of one of the screws holding the panel in place.  
"Why is it that there is never a screwdriver when you need it?" the Sith growled, struggling with the improvised instrument.  
"I found another one! - Obi-Wan exclaimed - We'll be quicker if we work together." he proposed, inching closer to the panel with another piece of rubbish in his hands.  
Maul nodded and Obi-Wan started struggling with a screw of his own. The edge of the lid kept on slipping out of the groove, scratching the metal casing of the panel and biting into the meat of his hand.  
"I should start adding a screwdriver to my mission kit." he joked, sighing in relief as the first screw loosened.  
"Good idea. - Maul agreed - Works really nice even as a weapon."  
Obi-Wan cast him an incredulous glance.  
"Haven't you ever tried? - Maul asked, turning momentarily to look at him - It slips between a man's ribs better than a knife."  
"You're full of fun facts, aren't you?" Obi-Wan grunted, shifting to his next screw.  
"Do you mind doing the bottom one? I can't exactly bend." Maul asked, slightly embarrassed.  
"No probs." the Jedi replied, dropping to his knees. Belatedly, he realised that he was offering a prime target to the prisoner, but Maul didn't seem to have noticed, and was intent in his struggle with his last screw.  
"Done." he announced in a minute.  
"Me too." Obi-Wan replied.  
"Let's get this off." Maul instructed. They leveraged the lids in the crack between the panel and the wall and, with a bit of brute force, it fell to the ground with a clang, revealing a forest of switches and cables.  
"Are you any good at sabotage?" Maul asked.  
Obi-Wan shrugged. "If you mean slicing, reasonably."  
"What do you reckon?" the Sith asked, peering intently into the chaos of electronic components.  
"That group of contacts there?" Obi-Wan ventured.  
Maul nodded. "Looks like our best bet. This thing is older than we are." he gave it an experimental pull, but the thing didn't give.  
"Soldered in place... - he growled - Fucking piece of junk!"  
"What now?" Obi-Wan asked, sticking his hand in as well and feeling around for a weak point.  
"Can you do Force-lightning?" Maul asked, sounding doubtful.  
Obi-Wan gave him a hard stare. "What do you think? Do I look like a Sith to you?" he asked, rather piqued.  
"No, you're too cute. - Maul replied, smirking - Seriously."  
"Now who is being creepy? - Obi-Wan retorted - Can't you do it yourself? You are the Sith Lord here." he added.  
"I've never been taught how to do it." Maul admitted ruefully, shaking his head.  
"Well... this is..." Obi-Wan started.  
"This is quite shit. - Maul concluded for him - Alright, let's do this the old- fashioned way." he proposed, and, before Obi-Wan could protest, Maul had already sent a bolt of concentrated Force to the control panel, smashing it in.  
The door opened through the middle with a scream of mistreated metal. Maul grinned victoriously.

In the space of a second the steel panels closed back with a slam, only to open again soon afterwards, settling into an irregular pattern of slamming and creaking.  
"Why can't anything go to plan in this bloody mission?!" Maul exclaimed, punching the metal casing next to the panel in anger.  
"It looks like it shorted out." Obi-Wan commented.  
"Because it is a piece of crap! Seriously, did the Naboo do any maintenance down here in the last thirty years?" Maul grumbled.  
Obi-Wan kept quiet and let him vent some steam.  
"We'll have to jump." the Sith said finally, looking rather dejected and reflexively holding a hand against the wound.  
"Maybe not. - Obi-Wan replied, scratching his stubbly chin as he mulled over an alternative - We'll have to work together, if we do it my way."  
Maul leveled at him a considering stare, frowning slightly. "If that means I won't die like an idiot in a rubbish heap, it's fine by me." he said finally.  
Obi-Wan nodded. "Do you think you can stand unaided for a moment?" he asked. Maul nodded.  
"And walk a few steps?" the Padawan asked again.  
"In the worst-case scenario, I'll crawl. It's still better than trying to dive through." the Sith replied.  
"Good. - Obi-Wan commented, nodding approvingly - This is the plan then: we'll wedge the door open with the Force from this side, then one of us will go through and wedge it from the other side to let the other through."  
"Would you trust me with keeping that thing open while you walk through?" Maul asked.  
"What about you?" Obi-Wan retorted, crossing his arms.  
"You're a Jedi. You are too predictably good to try to deceive me." Maul replied, sniffing in disdain.  
"And you are too obsessed with dueling with me to resort to such a cheap trick." Obi-Wan continued, giving him a sidelong glance.  
The Sith frowned for a moment. "That and I cannot get out of here without your help... I told you I do not fancy dying here if I can help it." he said.  
"So we are agreed. Let's do this, then." Obi-Wan concluded.  
Maul nodded and leaned away from the wall. Obi-Wan helped him step in front of the door.  
"Now!" the Padawan instructed, tapping into the Force to shore up the two steel panels of the door. He could feel the darker tendrils emenating from the Sith weawing around his and locking on the target. Obi-Wan found himself smiling. It felt good to work together like that and he could feel an echo of satisfaction waft through the Force from his improvised ally.  
The two panels of the safety door would have been too heavy a load for either of them in their weakened state, but together they were managing.  
"Go ahead. I'll be right behind you." the Sith encouraged him.

Obi-Wan nodded and stepped forth, keeping a tight hold on the Force. He was concentrating so hard that he barely noticed that he had gone through.  
He turned and nodded wordlessly to the Sith.  
Maul nodded back and took one wavering step. His hold on the door wavered too, as he tried to stay on his feet.  
Obi-Wan gritted his teeth and braced harder. Maul was too exhausted and in pain to last for very long, but Obi-Wan could tell that he was trying as hard as he could. If he fell on the other side of the door and lost his grip on the Force, though, there would be very little Obi-Wan would be able to do to help him.  
"_Only a few steps more._ - he projected through the Force, trying to encourage him - _Come on, you can do it._"  
Maul stiffened for a moment upon feeling the Padawan's words in his head, then gritted his teeth and took another step, then another.  
Obi-Wan kept projecting encouragement towards him, knowing that the only reason why the Sith could "hear" it at all was because his shields were crumbling in exhaustion.  
By the time he cleared the door, the Sith's hands, held up to aid the visualisation, were shaking minutely and his eyes were shut tightly in concentration and pain.  
"_You're through. It's all over._" Obi-Wan projected.  
He felt a surge of relief coming from his charge, then Maul let go suddenly of the Force and fell to his hands and knees, gasping and trembling all over.  
The Padawan let go as well, leaving the door to resume its opening-and-shutting routine, and knelt to his side.

"It's alright... It's going to be alright... You were brilliant..." he said, trying to comfort the Sith. He stroked his back gently, as he would have done with a sick child, softly whispering reassurances and praise.  
Maul was too busy trying to get his body back under control to be able to shove him away or even protest, but Obi-Wan had the feeling that the Sith didn't entirely mind his attempts at comforting him.  
It took a while for the Sith's breath to go back to normal and for the shaking to cease.  
Maul laid a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder for support and pushed himself up into a kneeling position.  
"You are a crap liar, Kenobi." he rasped, looking at him with a wry, tired smile.  
"Jedi, remember? - Obi-Wan retorted lightly - Now let's get away from here. Let's find somewhere more defensible to have a rest." he proposed.  
Maul shook his head. "We need to keep moving." he objected stubbornly.  
"We need to rest. I'm exhausted and I cannot even imagine how you must feel. - the Padawan insisted - We need to keep our wits about us if we want to get out of here in one piece."  
The Sith hesitated a moment more before acquiescing.  
"I can barely see straight now." he confessed quietly and dejectedly.  
Obi-Wan slipped below the Sith's outstretched arm, ready to brace him.  
"Lean on me, alright? Nice and slow." he instructed.  
Maul nodded and started to push himself up, leaning heavily on Obi-Wan.

It was a miracle he could get to his feet, to say nothing about walking.  
He was concentrating so hard just on putting one foot in front of the other that his eyes were screwed shut and he blindly followed Obi-Wan's lead.  
"Let me find somewhere safe in this tunnel. Let it be soon." the Padawan prayed under his breath.  
The Force was merciful with them and after a few minutes of swaying and staggering, Obi-Wan noticed a hatchway on the side of the tunnel. It was closed with a wheel and it looked in better state of repair than the rest of it surroundings. A faded sign above it read "Fireproof room 17-A". It looked like his prayers had been answered.  
Now the problem was how to pry the hatchway open without letting go of Maul. The Sith had gotten to the point of being unable to stand unaided, and Obi-Wan realised he was too exhausted himself to pick him up if he fell to the ground.  
"Why... Why did we stop?" the Sith panted.  
"We found some shelter. - Obi-Wan announced - I am afraid I need your help once more."  
"Needy Jedi... - Maul chuckled. opening his eyes to assess the situation - I pull one side and you push the other?" he asked, quickly catching up on the problem.  
Obi-Wan nodded and the Sith reached deep into the Force, extending his free hand towards the wheel and closing it into a fist, as if he was grabbing it. Obi-Wan did the same and together they turned it slowly but steadily, until the mechanism clicked and the hatchway fell open.  
Both of them sighed in relief.  
"Come on. Nearly there!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, practically dragging his charge the last couple of steps to the safe room.

As soon as they were in, Maul collapsed to his knees, dragging Obi-Wan down with him. The Sith cursed weakly and Obi-Wan helped him sit with his back against the closest wall, before dashing to the hatchway and closing it to keep all sorts of predators at bay.  
Task completed, he took a moment to survey the room. It was small and bare, a box of concrete some ten paces across, with grated air vents near the ceiling, a metal cupboard, a couple of concrete benches along the walls and a side-room which hopefully contained a refresher. In a niche next to one of the benches, there was even a wall - mounted comm.  
Obi-Wan staggered towards it and tried to operate it, but whatever button he pressed seemed to have the same effect, that is to say none.  
"Dead, isn't it?" Maul asked weakly.  
"As dead as a dodo." Obi-Wan commented, acquiescing with a nod.  
"Lucky us, eh?" Maul commented with sarcasm  
"Yeah, we should play the lottery. - Obi-Wan replied in the same tone, shuffling towards the cupboard and opening it - Oh, that's nice! We got rations and a first aid kit in here!" he announced, clapping his eyes on the contents of the cupboard.  
He ignored the food for a moment and opened the kit. There were bacta packages and bandages and even a couple of pressure injectors loaded with painkiller doses. He sighed in relief, grabbed everything and sank to the ground next to the Sith.  
"Is that what I think it is?" Maul asked with an almost pleading look in his fire-gold eyes.  
"Yes. Give me your arm." Obi-Wan replied. The Sith readily complied, rolling up his right sleeve and extending his arm towards him.  
Obi-Wan placed the injector against the patterned skin on the inside of the Sith's elbow and pressed the button. The drug was released with a soft pneumatic hiss and Maul sighed in relief. "Thank Force for painkillers..." he whispered.  
"It's going to be better soon." Obi-Wan promised - I'll see if that 'fresher works. I really want to wash my hands... I'll be back in a moment, OK?"  
Maul nodded. "It's not like I'm going anywhere..." he said with a hint of sarcasm.

Strangely, the water supply was still connected and the taps worked.  
Obi-Wan washed blood and grime off his hands, scrubbing them with a shriveled bar of pungent-smelling soap which must have been as old as him. He took off his tunic and washed his face and arms, everywhere he could manage without getting water all over the floor.  
Being marginally clean made all the difference in the world, he though.

By the time he went back to the main room, Maul had already fallen asleep or nearly there, his sharp features relaxed into an almost peaceful expression. The black markings on his skin made him look always slightly miffed, especially because he was actually angry most of the time, but now he was only looked young and exhausted.  
Obi-Wan knelt on the concrete floor next to him, considering what to do next.  
"Am I so interesting to you, little Padawan?" Maul asked, without even opening his eyes. His reflections must have lasted somewhat longer than he thought, Obi-Wan reflected, blushing in a fit of embarrassment.  
"I... I think it would be wise to have a look at the wound, but I didn't want to wake you up." he replied, stammering a bit.  
Maul opened his eyes and looked at him with an expression of intense concentration, as if he was trying to decode him. "I wasn't sleeping. I was trying to meditate. - he replied - Not that it is any easy when someone is looking at you like that." he added.  
"Like what?" Obi-Wan asked.  
"The way you were looking at me... Like it mattered." the Sith whispered, looking away.  
Obi-Wan blinked, perplexed by his reply. He considered asking for an explanation, then decided it was better to let the subject drop. There were far more important issues to be solved before he was too tired to function.  
"Will you let me see to your wound?" he asked again, switching subject.  
Maul shifted his gaze back towards him but did not reply.  
"It would be best to clean it again and put a proper dressing on, now that it is possible. To prevent an infection and that kind of stuff... - Obi-Wan continued, while the Sith kept staring at him in that slightly disquieting way - But it's up to you, I guess." he concluded, starting to feel rather self-conscious.  
Maul nodded. "Okay." he acceded tonelessly.  
"Are you sure?" Obi-Wan asked again.  
The Sith once more limited his reply to a nod and closed his eyes, slipping back into a meditative state, possibly to resist to the inevitable pain.  
Obi-Wan sighed and slipped a pair of gloves on from the first-aid kit, deftly untying the improvised bandage and setting it aside. Some sort of white-ish fluid had stuck the inner layer to the flesh. He worked slowly and gently, wetting the fabric with the saline he had found in the kit and eventually it peeled off. A frown had appeared on the Sith's brow and his lips had tightened in a slight grimace, but he had made no sound during the whole process.  
It was Obi-Wan who whimpered slightly upon seeing what lay beneath the bandages. The edges of the wound were swollen and discoloured, and slick with more of the same fluid that had stained the bandages.  
Maul opened his eyes and looked at him with a wry little grimace on his lips. "It's gone bad already, isn't it?" he asked, already knowing the answer.  
Obi-Wan didn't reply, but rummaged frantically into the kitbag, hoping against hope that there will be some sort of antibiotic in there.

There wasn't.

"It's going to be alright. Tomorrow we'll be out of here. - he said, voice shaking in nervousness even as he tried to reassure his charge - There is a good hospital in Theed. They'll give you antibiotics. You're going to be alright."  
Maul shook his head. "Why do you do this? Why do you care?" he asked, staring at him with that odd intensity again.  
"Because you are a person, even if you think of yourself as my enemy." Obi-Wan replied, holding his gaze.  
"I am your enemy." Maul retorted, but something told Obi-Wan that his conviction was not so solid.  
"You don't have to be if you don't want to." the Padawan insisted.  
"Don't you hate me for what I did? Don't you want me to pay for it?" Maul asked softly.  
Obi-Wan shook his head. "Hating you will not bring Master Qui-Gon back. Neither will your suffering. - he replied, feeling his heart ache at the thought of what he had lost - You cannot mend a wrong with another wrong." he added, knowing with all his heart that it was the truth.  
Maul looked at him almost with awe for an instant, then shook his head again and closed his eyes. "I do not deserve your compassion, little Padawan." he said, almost defensively.  
"Yes, you do." Obi-Wan thought, but the only thing he said was: "Tell me when the pain becomes too much. Tell me to stop, alright?"  
Maul nodded wordlessly and the Padawan cracked open a pack of bacta-soaked gauzes and started to clean the wound as gently as he could, hoping that the infection would be swept away by the antiseptic.  
He covered the wound as well as he could with the sterile synthskin bandages he had been able to find, topped that with bacta-gauzes to keep any other germs at bay, and finally wrapped the Sith's midriff with bandages as snugly and deftly as his limited ability as a healer allowed.

"All done." Obi-Wan announced softly, taking the gloves off and discarding them on the floor. He sat on the floor next to the prisoner and allowed himself to relax a fraction.  
Maul didn't react in any way for quite a long moment and Obi-Wan started worrying that he might have lapsed into unconsciousness.  
"Thanks..." Maul whispered in the end, so softly that it was almost hard to hear.  
"You're welcome. " Obi-Wan replied, a little surprised by the thanks.  
"No one has ever done something like this for me before." the Sith revealed.  
Obi-Wan frowned, uncomprehending. "Haven't you ever hurt yourself in the... discharge of your duties?" he asked. Even without trying, he could spot a silvery-orange scar curving along his ribs, ending just above the bandages. That must have hurt.  
"Yes, but that's what medical droids are for, isn't it? - Maul replied, frowning as well - I hate the bloody things. I'd rather fix myself on my own."  
"Hasn't your Master ever seen to your wounds?" Obi-Wan asked. The frown was risking to become permanent.  
Maul shook his head, looking slightly lost and defeated. "He says that if I get wounded it is because I didn't do things right. Pain will teach me to do better next time." he explained tonelessly.  
Obi-Wan shook his head. "Maybe it is true, but even so, you learned your lesson a few hours ago. - he said firmly - I think you deserve a bit of comfort and care."  
"That's one of the reasons why Jedi are weak. - Maul retorted with a disdainful snort - Warriors should learn the consequences of their failures if they want to get stronger." he declared with conviction.  
"What is the failure in getting hurt if you complete your mission? - Obi-Wan asked - Apart from that, it's been proven that people learn better from positive experiences and praise than from pain." he added smugly.  
The Sith's eyes widened for an instant. "You are making this stuff up." he commented dismissively.  
"I am not. I am a Jedi, remember? I am not allowed to lie. - Obi-Wan replied - When we are out of here I'll show you the publications."  
His words seemed to have left a sour taste in the Sith's mouth.  
"Whatever. That is not the Sith way." he commented with a grimace.  
"So if one of your Sith buddies got injured you wouldn't help him?" Obi-Wan insisted, sensing that there was a crack in the Sith's conceptual armour.  
Maul gave him a perplexed glance.  
"Ah, right I forgot you people don't have buddies. - the Padawan said, slapping his forehead - Only two there are, a Master to embody power, and an Apprentice to crave it." he quoted, unconsciously mimicking Grand Master Yoda's voice.  
"Correct. But why are you talking weird?" Maul asked, quirking an eyebrow.  
Obi-Wan chuckled in embarrassment. "That's a long story. Anyway, it must be lonely for you people..." he added cheerfully.  
"It is." Maul admitted softly.  
"Well, then, if your Master got hurt, wouldn't you help him?" Obi-Wan insisted.  
"If my Master got wounded in a fight, I would probably be already dead trying to defend him." Maul replied heatedly.  
"Well, let's assume for the sake of the argument that you are still alive and well. Would you leave him to suffer or would you help him?" Obi-Wan argued.  
Maul hesitated a moment, casting him an alarmed look. "I... I would help him." he replied finally, looking down as if in shame and defeat.  
"Why are you making this sound bad?" Obi-Wan asked, frowning in worry and incomprehension.  
"Because it is. You seem to know so much about Sith traditions, figure that out for yourself!" Maul growled.  
Obi-Wan saw anger flash in his eyes and in the Force, but he had the impression that it was directed at himself.  
"Please, don't tell me that is is something dramatic like because the Apprentice is supposed to off his Master..." Obi-Wan pleaded.  
"It is. Wanting to kill one's Master is supposed to motivate the Apprentice to become stronger and wiser." Maul replied glumly, still refusing to raise his gaze.  
"But how?! How are you supposed to want to kill the person who has taught you everything?!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, feeling bewildered and incensed. It was wrong, no, beyond wrong. It was appalling, preposterous, inconceivable.  
"I wouldn't know. I don't." Maul confessed in a whisper.  
"You don't?!" Obi-Wan repeated, feeling immensely, inordinately relieved by the revelation.  
"I wanted once. He goaded me into it, said he was going to replace me with someone better. - Maul admitted shaking his head - But it was only a moment, it was only anger. I don't wish his death, I just... can't. He is everything I have. I wouldn't be anything without him." he added as if trying to justify himself.  
Obi-Wan felt a surge of pity for the Sith. Destiny had dealt him a cruel hand. "Well, maybe you are an atypical Sith, but I think this is quite... you know... normal." he said, trying to console him.  
Maul smiled wryly. "I am a crap Sith. I cannot even shoot Force-lightning..." he argued, trying to make a joke of it.  
"It's fine by me. I don't really fancy being electrocuted during our rematch." Obi-Wan replied playfully, glad that the gloom had been dispelled.  
"I suppose it is fair enough. Not that I would need it to hand your ass out to you..." Maul provoked, a bit of life and humour returning to his voice and expression.  
"We'll see... - Obi-Wan teased - Changing subject, I know you can't really eat, with that wound, but would you mind if I got some food?" he asked.  
"Go ahead. I don't mind. - Maul replied - I would kill for some water though."  
Obi-Wan nodded. "I'll get you some from the tap." he offered, getting to his feet.

Obi-Wan came back a few minutes later with a only slightly off-date spaceship ration and a glass of water, and sat back beside his charge.  
Strange how he didn't even consider sitting on one of the benches even if it would have been more comfortable than on the ground.  
This time Maul wasn't meditating, but was fast asleep. Obi-Wan wasn't surprised. It was surprising that he had lasted so long.  
Poor boy, he thought. The longer he interacted with him, the more he realised that under the scary, outlandish exterior and the adherence to the Sith tenets, there was a confused and possibly broken young man. He was surprisingly likeable and straightforward for a Sith. There was still honour in him, still some sympathy, still some humanity, and a profound loneliness that was painful to see.  
There must have been some deep hurt or rejection at the heart of his fall, and Obi-Wan found himself lamenting it. If Maul hadn't fallen, they could have been good friends.  
Sighing, the Padawan forced himself to stop musing about would-have-beens and could-have-beens and gently shook the Sith by a shoulder.  
His eyes shot open and his left hand twitched upwards as if couching a blow before he stopped himself.  
Obi-Wan unconsciously backed away. "It's just me. I brought water." he said soothingly.  
Maul took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Next time call out for me before you get too close. -he said - I'm not used to be woken up like this." he added, almost apologetically.  
Obi-Wan realised that it was the only sort of apology he was going to get and let the matter drop. He handed the cup to the Sith and sat down with his ration, cracking it open and tucking in hungrily.

Silence fell on the small room once more, as he ate and Maul nursed his glass of water as if it was something much stronger, brooding quietly and taking occasional small sips, before finally setting the half-full glass down on the floor and closing his eyes.  
"Little Padawan... - he called out after a while, when Obi-Wan had already judged him to be asleep - Was your Master as kind with you as you are being with me?" he asked, his voice soft and timid and his gaze far away.  
Obi-Wan nearly choked on his ration and on the sorrow those few words had engendered. He could remember quite a few times when he had been ill or wounded and Master Qui-Gon had looked after him like mother and father combined.  
They were now lost forever.

"Yes. He was." he replied, struggling to prevent his voice from breaking.  
Maul sighed, closed his eyes and didn't say anything.  
Obi-Wan waited for him to speak, nearly trembling with the effort of keeping those feelings bottled up, but the Sith seemed to have fallen asleep again.  
Obi-Wan hid his face in his hands and cried, not caring a whit if his charge was only pretending to sleep again.


	3. From Darkness into the Light

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Star Wars characters. I do own the OCs, though. I do not make a £ from this.**

Warning: implied child abuse of all kinds you can imagine. That's Darth Sidious to you people.

Flame all you want, I'm fireproof.

* * *

Darkness woke Obi-Wan up after what felt like only a few minutes of unbroken sleep. It was thick and dense and crackling with energy and it was churning, building up like a tsunami wave after an earthquake.  
The Padawan's eyes shot open.  
The fireproof room where he and his prisoner had bunked for the "night" was still illuminated by the same faint, reddish safety lights as before he fell asleep. It took a moment for him to realise that the darkness was manifesting itself through the Force.  
He turned towards Maul, thinking that maybe it was his doing, even if it didn't feel like it was. The darkness he was sensing now was somehow deeper and colder than Maul's Force-presence, like brackish water hiding a quicksand, or a noxious fume that strangled silently, rather than like a blaze of fire.  
The Sith's eyes were wide in astonishment as if he was realising only now something fundamental.

"What is this?" Obi-Wan asked, his voice pitched slightly higher than usual in near-panic.  
The darkness continued to build up and storm, and for a moment Obi-Wan could sense a second presence in the maelstrom, rising and falling as if struggling with the main presence. It was as deep and as cold as the first, but older, sharper and... just different. Obi-Wan could almost taste their two different flavours at the back of his mouth. The notion made him feel slightly sick.

Darkness fought against darkness within the Force, until with a terrible conflagration, the second presence gave way and disappeared. Obi-Wan could feel the aftershocks reverberating hard all around him before fading away into the Force. Maul's expression turned to rage for an instant, and then to sadness and defeat so profound and bitter that it pained Obi-Wan to watch it.  
"What was that?" he asked again, even more urgently.  
Maul took a series of deep breaths as if to calm himself down before turning his face towards him and replying.  
"That was a Sith Lord as he died." he said. His voice didn't waver, but it was toneless and almost mechanical and his eyes were empty like an abandoned house.  
Obi-Wan felt a new pang of compassion towards him. Could it be that the Order had already managed to find his Master and get rid of him? Poor Maul, he thought. It seemed like now they had both lost the most important person in their lives.  
"I am so sorry... It was your Master, wasn't it?" he said softly, considering whether he should reach out for him, to offer him comfort.  
Maul shook his head. "No. It wasn't." he replied. He had curled up into a really tight ball as if trying to occupy the least amount of space, hugging his knees and hiding his face.  
Obi-Wan blinked repeatedly and tilted his head to one side, as if a slightly different perspective on the events might help him make sense of what was happening.  
"Then what...? Who...? I don't understand..." he said, feeling completely out of his depth.  
"There is nothing for you to understand! Nothing! - Maul lashed out, his anger blazing like a flame in the landscape of the Force - This is none of your Force-damned business!" he added, casting a venomous glare at him.  
"Hey, easy there, I only meant to help..." Obi-Wan commented defensively.  
"I don't want your help! Just leave me alone!" Maul shouted, but his anger was fading fast and the pain underneath it was quickly coming to the surface.  
"Please, little Padawan. Go back to sleep. I can't deal with this now. I... I just can't. " the Sith confessed after a moment of silence.  
"It's alright, don't worry about this. - Obi-Wan offered, unnerved by the sense of defeat that permeated the Sith's words - We're tired. You'll see that things won't look so grim in the morning." he added.  
Maul expelled a small, humourless laugh and shook his head, but didn't protest.  
"I'm here if you need me, alright?" Obi-Wan added, feeling sleep drag him back into its clutches.  
Maul nodded. "I know. - he said - Thank the Force for that..." he added quietly, so quietly that Obi-Wan might have dreamed it, but it still warmed him up from the inside out nonetheless.

When he woke up later in what passed for morning in that lightless wasteland, Maul was staring at him with a wistful expression, red-gold eyes glassy and shining with fever.  
Obi-Wan had the feeling that he had been awake and looking at him for a while already.  
"Hey... How are you feeling?" Obi-Wan asked softly, uncurling from the floor and shifting towards his charge.  
Maul shrugged. "The pain has lessened, but the fever has risen." he replied tonelessly.  
"Right... - Obi-Wan commented - Do you mind...?" he added, extending a hand towards the Sith.  
Maul shook his head. "Go for it."  
Obi-Wan placed a hand on his brow. He was burning with fever already.  
"You've got cold hands, little Padawan..." Maul whispered, leaning into his touch.  
"No one complained before." Obi-Wan retorted, forcing a smile on his face.  
"I'm not complaining." the Sith clarified.  
"We should get going. The sooner you get medical attention, the better." Obi-Wan said.  
Maul just nodded.  
There was an air of defeat and profound exhaustion about him. Obi-Wan found himself doubting that he would be able to pull another effort like the previous day. It looked like all the energy and the purpose had been drained from him and, even in the Force, his presence felt more like the ashes of a fire rather than an angry blaze like before.  
Now even more than the night before he could see how broken his prisoner was inside. Whatever happened in the Dark Side earlier had nearly shattered him, but Obi-Wan could sense that there was still some fire smouldering under the ash, weak and dwindling. He would stir it and rekindle it.  
In different circumstances, the idea would have struck him as ludicrous, but now a part of him screamed that he should help him, that he should save him, not just because it could be important in the long term, not because it could be strategically advantageous, but because of him, because it would be a shame and a waste to let him fade away.

"Alright. I'll get you some water and then we roll." Obi-Wan declared, taking command.  
Maul nodded and Obi-Wan stole to the refresher with the cup and all the bandages left in the first-aid kit.  
When he came back, he had a cupful of cool water and a bundle of wet fabric, both of which Maul eyed with relief.  
"Here. Drink slowly." Obi-Wan instructed, handing over the cup. The Sith murmured something under his breath which might have been a thank you, and took a small sip.  
"Tie these around your wrists and temples. - Obi-Wan added, proffering the wet bandages - They will help with the fever."  
The Sith nodded quietly and swallowed another sip of water, then took the bandages.  
Obi-Wan left him alone for a moment and went back to the cupboard, stashing some rations and the last dose of painkiller in his utility pockets, then found some sort of canister and filled it with water from the tap. He needed to keep his prisoner hydrated to ensure his survival.  
When he came back to his side, Maul had drunk all the water and tied up the bandages.  
"Let's go." the Sith exhorted. A glimmer of determination had returned to his eyes and Obi-Wan couldn't help but feel a bit relieved because of this.  
"We still have one shot of painkillers, if you need it." he said.  
Maul shook his head. "Keep it. I might need it more badly later." he replied.  
The Padawan nodded and, with ability born of practice, helped the Sith get first to his knees and then, slowly to his feet.

They left the fireproof room behind in nearly complete silence, staggering and swaying like a pair of drunk revelers crawling out of a night club in the seediest district of Coruscant. After a few hours of sleep, Obi-Wan was feeling reasonably restored, but Maul's conditions were rapidly deteriorating. Obi-Wan could feel the fevered heat of his skin through their clothes and he ever so often caught snatches of thoughts and feelings filtering through the Sith's crumbling mind shields. It was nothing happy and Obi-Wan realised that it was hopelessness as much as pain that weighted his steps.  
As much as he tried, he couldn't understand what he had sensed in the Force. There had been a third Sith, that was clear, and somehow it didn't surprise him too much that the Darksiders wouldn't even be able to follow their own rules. He just didn't understand why that would affect Maul so much and so badly.  
"That darkness in the Force... Does it mean your Master had another apprentice?" he asked, a bit out of the blue.  
Maul looked at him and shook his head. He caught a breath to reply, when suddenly the ground gave way under Obi-Wan's feet. He cried out, feeling himself falling down among the refuse, but his fall was stopped suddenly with a wrench to his shoulder.  
Above his head sounded a bloodcurdling howl of agony and rage. Maul had managed to grab his wrist and brace himself somewhere, preventing his disappearance down the sinkhole. "Hold on, little Padawan!" the Sith cried.  
Something thick and rubbery wrapped itself around his ankles and started pulling in the other direction. Obi-Wan turned and looked down into the abyss. The creature at the bottom was half-shrouded in gloom, but the Jedi managed to distinguish strong mandibles and pincers, along with a crop of tentacles. Whatever it was, it was big enough to use both him and Maul as a light snack. Terror gripped him for a moment, effectively paralyzing him. His sweaty hand started to slip in Maul's.  
"I'm not letting you fall!" the Sith yelled. Obi-Wan closed his eyes against a sudden burst of light. The air was filled with the smell of ozone and the creature down the sinkhole let a chittering and hissing sound. The tentacle released him and Obi-Wan lost no time in scrambling up, trembling in all his limbs.

Maul was lying awkwardly on the floor, propped against the discarded section of durasteel pipe he had been bracing against, eyes closed in utter exhaustion. Obi-Wan crawled towards him not quite knowing what to think and to feel.  
Sensing him close, the Sith opened his eyes and turned his face towards him. "End of the line, little Padawan. Won't be able to move from here." he whispered. Obi-Wan frantically checked the bandages and found them already wet with blood. He withdrew his hand and shook his head in desperation.  
"Why did you do that, you crazy bastard? Why did you save my life?" Obi-Wan asked, his voice breaking with emotion.  
"You deserve a warrior's death. .. - the Sith panted, closing his eyes again - Under the sun, with a sword in your hand... Couldn't let you die like that... Would have been a bloody shame." he concluded, smiling weakly.  
Obi-Wan blinked away the tears that had welled up in his eyes.  
"You were kind with me. - the Sith continued - I... I am sorry about your Master. I am sorry I brought you pain."  
"Shhh... It's alright. Don't worry about this now. - Obi-Wan whispered - You'll tell me everything when we are safe. When you are better."  
Maul smiled wistfully. "Oh, I would love to... - he said, but his words were cut by a spasm of pain - It is time, Obi-Wan, please. Have mercy." he pleaded softly. His eyes were glazed with pain and fever and his pulse jumped erratically in his neck.  
"I can't. I've never..." the Jedi choked on his own words.  
"You've never... Never killed anyone outside of battle?" Maul asked in a tone of soft wonder. Obi-Wan shook his head.  
"I'll be your first... - the Sith whispered - Good. You'll always remember me, then..." he added, sounding morbidly pleased with this. He lifted a hand and raised it towards Obi-Wan's face, stopping just short of touching him before he let it fall.  
The Jedi bit his lip to prevent it from trembling and hesitated again.  
"Don't cry, I don't deserve your tears... - Maul continued - I'm just glad you didn't... That you didn't do it when I first asked. I'm glad I got to know you. You really are something... I regret I'll miss our rematch... It would have been... glorious..." he rasped, smiling softly.  
Obi-Wan shook his head in denial. There was hardly another way, but it wasn't right. It didn't feel right to kill the man who had just saved your life.  
He had also been responsible for his Master's death and obviously a good action did not cancel a bad one, but it must count for something in the grand scheme of things. There must be another way, he thought, frantically looking around to find some idea. Maybe he could...

And then he realised. There was another solution, it was so obvious!  
He quickly grabbed the painkiller from his pocket and jabbed it into Maul's arm, releasing the charge."What are you...?" he asked weakly.  
The Jedi didn't reply, but passed one arm around his back and the other under his knees and struggled to his feet. The Sith was a couple of inches shorter than him, but solid. It wasn't going to be easy to carry him bridal-style, as the called it, but it would not be possible to do otherwise, with that wound.  
"Put me down! You'll never make it, if you have to carry me." Maul protested weakly.  
"I have to try." Obi-Wan replied finding his balance and starting to walk. He wanted to be clear of that area quickly, before the creature Maul had zapped regained its composure and came after them.  
"I'm not worth your sacrifice, Jedi! - Maul protested - I am not even a true Sith..." he added.  
"Sure you are." Obi-Wan grunted, negotiating a tricky landslide of broken crockery and rotten wood.  
"No, I am nothing. I was never anything more than a tool. - Maul declared - What you felt... it was my Master killing his own Master. He was the Apprentice, not I." he explained.  
"Oh!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. What he had sensed made a lot more sense now.  
"I was supernumerary. That's why he never taught me anything more, that's why he never revealed me his plans. - Maul continued - My whole life was a lie. I was worthless to him and I will be worthless to your order. Please, put me down. End this." he pleaded again, his voice breaking.  
"You are not worthless to me." Obi-Wan declared, shaking his head.  
"But I cannot do anything for you!" Maul protested.  
"It's not about what you can do. It's about who you are. - Obi-Wan replied firmly - You are not a tool. You are a person, and not too bad at that, for being an ax-crazy darksider." he added more gently, even as he was struggling. It wasn't easy to carry him like that. Maul wasn't actively struggling, but he wasn't helping him either.  
"If I put you down, you'll have to die, one way or the other, and I can't do it, not like this. Sorry, I'm weak this way. - he admitted defiantly - Now, do you really want to die? If you just roll over and let it happen, your Master will win. You'll really be a tool. Is that what you want?" he asked.  
"No..." came the barely audible reply.  
"Then hold on to me and concentrate on surviving." the Jedi instructed.  
Maul nodded weakly and snaked his arms around Obi-Wan's shoulders, laying his head against his collarbone. His skin was now burning hot and he was trembling lightly every few seconds. "Think happy thoughts..." he murmured almost sleepily. An alarm went off in Obi-Wan's head.  
"Keep talking to me, OK? You can't fall asleep. I need to know you're still with me." he added.  
The Sith nodded, grazing one of his horns against Obi-Wan's chest. "Sorry!" he said, quite embarrassed.  
"It's alright. - Obi-Wan replied softly - Now talk, OK?"  
"Easy for you, I'm not a talkative person." Maul replied in a slightly stronger voice, rather piqued.  
"Could have fooled me yesterday." the Jedi retorted.  
"I... These are special circumstances." Maul admitted.  
"It's a really weird situation, I know." said Obi-Wan, trying to make light of it.  
"What I mean is that I've never had occasions to talk to someone like this, you know? - Maul continued - I wasn't not often required to talk much by my Master and when I was on a mission, people were usually too busy shitting themselves in fear to initiate a conversation. But you are not afraid and are actually listening. This is something I've never had before, you know? Something like an equal..." he said.

"I'm doing it again, am I not?" he asked after a short pause.  
"Doing what?" Obi-Wan asked coyly.  
"Babbling." Maul specified and the Jedi nodded smiling.  
Maul sighed. "Then I guess I am a talkative person, under the right conditions." he admitted, somewhat ruefully.  
"There is nothing wrong with this." Obi-Wan grunted, negotiating a particularly slippery bit of tunnel.  
"It's nice to talk to someone, sometimes. I wish I had realised earlier..." Maul sighed, starting to slur again.  
"You'll have plenty of time to exhaust me with your talking, after we get out of here." Obi-Wan declared encouragingly.  
"Will you still listen to me, though? Will you still want to talk with me like this?" Maul asked.  
"Why shouldn't I?" the Jedi asked.  
"Because once we are out of here, everything will go back to normal. - Maul replied - You'll be a Jedi and I'll be a Darksider, and we'll have no reason to talk to each other. We'll have to hate each other... I' m not sure I will be able to." he added, so quietly that Obi-Wan thought he had imagined it.  
"It was easy to hate you, when I didn't know you. - the Sith continued - Now everything is so confusing... I almost wish I had not met you, at least I would not be so confused... The only thing I know for sure is that it feels good to talk to you, not to be alone anymore..."

Obi-Wan didn't know how to reply to that and kept walking in silence, trying not to voice the pity and affection he felt for his prisoner. He was not sure he would want it, not even in his weak and feverish state.  
"You must think I'm a despicable weakling for this..." Maul rasped, closing his eyes.  
"Well, I think you're allowed to feel a bit under the weather, given the circumstances. You're a tough bastard, but everyone needs some company and some care, every now and then." Obi-Wan said.  
"Doesn't that make you weak, wanting to rely on someone else?" Maul asked, looking at Obi-Wan with odd intensity, as if he could pry the answer directly from his soul.  
"No, it makes you stronger. It makes both those who give help and those who are helped stronger." Obi-Wan explained, hoping that he would understand it, that he would believe it.  
"It must be good for you of the Light, to be able to trust blindly like this." Maul commented, halfway between cynical and wistful.  
"You're trusting me now. You have been trusting me the whole time, in fact." Obi-Wan pointed out.  
"I have no choice. When you're weak you have to accept what you get dished, whatever it might be." Maul retorted, unwilling to concede his ground.  
"And I have been trusting you not to do anything funny that would result in both our deaths." the Jedi added.  
Maul shook his head. "We're beyond that stage now." he said quietly.  
"Yes, now. But yesterday? You could have collected a shard of something from the floor and stabbed me when I was trying to bind your wound, or you could have killed me in my sleep tonight." Obi-Wan contested.  
The prisoner remained silent for a while. Obi-Wan was on the verge of asking him if everything was alright when he finally found his voice. "It wouldn't have been right. You were trying to help me. I could not kill you like that... - he confessed - I am weak, like my Master has always said..." he said dejectedly.  
"Maybe there is a bit of Light in you, like there is a bit of Dark in me, as you were saying earlier. - Obi-Wan proposed - If the Dark in me gives me an edge, the Light in you could do the same to you."  
"The Light is weak." Maul objected, fighting to keep his eyes open, but it sounded like a knee-jerk reaction.  
"Do you think I'm weak?" Obi-Wan asked.  
The Sith shook his head again. "You're... confusing, but you are not... weak... You are... - he panted - You are just right... My nemesis..." he concluded, almost with affection. He let his head fall on Obi-Wan's shoulder and his eyes drifted shut.

"Hey, don't! - Obi-Wan protested, highly alarmed - Stay awake! Stay with me!" he cried out.  
Maul stirred weakly, but did not open his eyes or reply. His hold on the Jedi's shoulders was weakening and his whole body was relaxing as he slipped into unconsciousness.  
Time was running out. He needed to get help soon, Obi-Wan thought, fighting against a rising wave of panic.  
He could not afford to lose clarity now, when everything rested on him.  
He couldn't let Maul die. He would have never been able to, but now... Now things had changed. There was doubt in him, there was hope that he would realise that the Dark Side didn't have all the answers.  
A bit of hope was all Obi-Wan needed to be willing to fight to the end. Now he understood why his Master had always been so willing to help strays and misfits: for that hope, to make all that potential come to be.  
It was just the irony of Fate that he had come to realise that with the person who had killed his mentor, but in a way it also made sense, as if his Master's sacrifice, the realisation of the loss, had been required to open his eyes.  
He understood. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

Obi-Wan tried to clear his mind and connect to the Force. He extended his mind, looking for the light and saw it distantly, ahead of him.  
He held his charge closer, ignoring the burning in his muscles, and took off at a trot. He knew the jostling was not nice to Maul, but speed was of essence, so he forced himself to ignore the quiet whimpers escaping from the unconscious Sith's lips. He would make up to him later, after they both made it to safety. Trying to offer some sort of comfort, he brushed the Sith's mind with his own, in what was almost a caress.  
A flash of images and sensations flew at him at the contact, strong and vivid enough to make him stop in his tracks for a moment.

_A young child, his bright red skin covered in bruises and welts, was lying in a heap on the cold, hard floor. A dark-clad man, as tall as a tower, was standing next to him, heaping abuse over him. The child asked him to stop, crying his blue-grey eyes out, but the abuse kept coming._

_The taste of his own blood in his mouth, pain and cold and an overwhelming solitude. The droids were indifferent to his plight, going about their tasks and ignoring his demands for attention ._

These were not fever-induced nightmares, but snippets of memories, Obi-Wan realised. Maul's shields had come crashing down as he lost consciousness, and now just by brushing his own mind against his, Obi-Wan was having a front-row seat view of the worst moments in the Sith's life. There had been no fall to the Dark for him, he had just been thrown in at the deep end and forced to learn to survive.  
Obi-Wan watched in horrified fascination as the child learned to accept pain and isolation as his lot, clinging with childish determination to any improvement of his condition. He saw him learn through pain and humiliation to submit to his Master, he saw him learn to despise himself for his weakness and try to be better, harder, stronger.  
The bastard made sure to be the only living creature the boy saw in his first years, and the child naturally became dependent on him in his desperate search for someone to relate to.  
Even if something deep inside him kept telling him that it was not this way, that it was not enough, the child learned to interpret lack of punishment as a reward and lack of spite as affection. His Master was the only thing he had in his life and he wanted his approval, which was rare in coming. He tried his best, but it was never quite enough and so the boy lived on, hiding the emptiness and the loneliness inside him like a shame, finding solace in his anger and his ability to fight and ignore his own pain.

It was so horrible and heart-wrenching that Obi-Wan wanted to tear himself away from all of it, but part of him knew that he couldn't. He just could not leave Maul alone to face everything all over again, so he hugged the Sith closer to his chest and continued to jog, trying to wrap his own Force-shield around Maul to let him know that he was not alone in this, not anymore.  
The wasted landscape of the tunnel became overlaid with terrible images and the Jedi staggered on, almost blinded by tears.  
How could any man behave so monstrously towards a child in his charge, exploit him so ruthlessly with not a single thought to his welfare?  
He had thought he had already seen the worse when he was shown how Maul had been dumped in a waste chute much like the one they had just fallen into and left to fend off by himself against all sorts of hungry creatures, and then the images changed into something even more terrible, almost unspeakable.  
Obi-Wan stumbled, feeling the child's pain, revulsion and shame as the old Sith used him against his will. He fell on his knees, cutting them open on something buried in the refuse heap. The pain helped him ground himself in the here-and-now and regain some control.  
He blinked away his tears and realised that the light in the tunnel had changed. Ahead of him, just behind a bend in the tunnel, pinkish light was filtering in.

Feeling his heart leap in his chest, the Jedi picked himself up and staggered onwards. Just beyond the safety grate, the sun was rising over Naboo. Obi-Wan blinked repeatedly, trying to adjust to the light. It was beautiful.  
"We'are nearly out, Maul. Hang in there." he whispered.  
With a quick and sharp application of Force, a bit of Force-lightning summoned out of Force-knows-where in desperation, he short-circuited the control panel embedded in the wall nearby and the grate slid open.  
He stumbled out, feeling packed earth and then grass beneath his soles. The air smelled unbelievably clean after the stench of the tunnels. Guided by the sound of nearby water, he reached a stream and lowered himself to the ground on its bank, underneath the canopy of a low-hanging tree.  
The sound of water was soothing but also torturous after the long hours they had spent toiling in the tunnels. It had been early afternoon when the fighting had broken out, as far as he could recall, and now it was nearly sundown again. The must have spent nearly an entire day in that Force-forsaken tunnel.

First things first, he told himself, concentrating on his most urgent task. He grabbed the commlink and punched in the code for the Commander of the Royal Guard and this time a communication was established.  
"Master Kenobi! -exclaimed a voice - Where are you. We thought we had lost you!"  
"I am at the exit of the waste-pit tunnels, near the stream. - he replied, hoping that the Naboo was familiar with the place - I request immediate assistance."  
"Are you injured, Master Kenobi?" the Naboo asked, persisting in calling him with a title he did not deserve yet.  
"No, I'm fine, but I have a person here with me. He's critically wounded and needs immediate medical assistance. - he explained, drawing on years of training to keep calm - Come here ASAP, track my device if it helps, but hurry!" he concluded.  
There was muffled shouting on the other side of the line, as if the Commander was bellowing orders while covering the microphone on the commlink with the palm of a hand. "We found you. ETA fifteen, twenty standard minutes maximum." the Commander said curtly.  
"Copy that. May the Force speed you." replied the Jedi, cutting the communication.  
"Help is on the way, Maul. Don't let go. - he whispered to the unconscious Sith - Keep breathing. Keep breathing for me, please." he pleaded.  
Maul managed to open his eyes just a fraction.  
"The sun?..." he whispered with awe, raising a trembling hand as if to touch the light.  
"Yes, it's the sun. We're out. We made it." Obi-Wan said, smiling through the tears.  
Maul managed a weak smile even as he let his hand drop.  
"That's the spirit. - Obi-Wan encouraged him - Here, have some water. You'll feel better." he said, bringing the water canister close to his lips. Maul was too weak now to raise his head to drink. Obi-Wan supported him tenderly and the Sith gulped the still-cool water greedily, so that he had to take the canister away after a moment, before he choked on it. Maul protested softly, but his protestations turned into a sigh of relief when Obi-Wan dripped some of the leftover water on his hand and used it to wet the Sith's brow and temples.  
"It'll be alright..." Obi-Wan reassured.  
Maul nodded and relaxed for an instant, probably slipping back into unconsciousness, just for his eyes snap back open in fear. "I'm falling..." he whispered.  
"Don't worry, I'll catch you." Obi-Wan replied, sensing that he was afraid of being left alone, at the mercy of his worst memories.  
"Promise?" Maul struggled to ask.  
Obi-Wan nodded. "Promise."  
Maul sighed and closed his eyes, leaning on the Jedi's support. He let himself go, trusting that Obi-Wan would help him withstand the assault.

The horror show started almost immediately and Maul started shivering, moaning and struggling weakly against the desperation of his memories. He needed to calm down to conserve energy and slow down his heartbeat to minimise blood loss.  
Obi-Wan tapped in the flow of memories that was still being projected and tried to steer them towards something, if not happy, at least peaceful, but he could find nothing that was not tainted by pain, anger or despair. And so he opened himself up and let his own shields fall down, searching in his mind for happy memories to share.

_He was playing in the green next to his old house with his brother Owen and the neighbour's children, running and laughing breathlessly._  
_Master Qui-Gon, smiling proudly at him after he had completed some tricky exercise._  
_The taste of warm pie and hot chocolate in winter, when outside is snowing but you're feeling warm and tired and you don't really have to go outside again._  
_The feeling of those late summer nights when the first stars come out amd everything looks clean and beautiful and a little bit magic and it looks like life is only beginning and all roads are open wide in front of you and you don't really know if it is a dream or if it is real, you only know that you don't want it to stop..._

"It's over now. It's all over. No one can hurt you." Obi-Wan kept repeating, over and over again.

Maul calmed down slightly, lulled by the images or by his words, but the Jedi didn't stop until the Naboo rescue vehicles parked in the meadow in a cacophony of noise, and a determined medic officer physically pried him away from his charge and started some sort of treatment on the unconscious Sith. Only then Obi-Wan realised how tired he was.  
The Commander started asking him questions in a shrill, alarmed voice, but the Jedi didn't manage to reply. He was out as a light in less than the time it takes to say exhausted.


	4. Hope and Shadows

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Star Wars characters. I do own the OCs, though. I do not make a £ from this.**

Warning: implied violence. That's still Darth Sidious to you people.

Flame all you want, I'm fireproof.

* * *

When he woke up later with a blinding headache, Obi-Wan did not have the foggiest clue of where he was. Disoriented, he took in the white walls and the equipment, deducing it must be an infirmary. The Naboo must have already taken them to the palace, he mused. His nose felt slightly stiff and as he raised a hand to touch it, he felt a section of rough, thick plaster across it. He's really managed to break it, then, he thought, still quite groggy. How long had he been out of it?

"Master Kenobi! - someone exclaimed - You are awake!". The Jedi raised his head off the pillow. It was a medical officer, not the one from the the meadow, though. This one looked young and not unattractive, still slightly soft around the edges.  
"How long?" he replied hoarsely.  
"How long what, sir?" the irritating healer retorted.  
"How long have I been unconscious?" he asked again, finding his bearings to try and stand.  
"The whole night and pretty much all morning. It is nearly midday." she replied.  
"So long?!" he exclaimed, swinging his legs from the bed and standing gingerly. His head was still killing him and he felt a little wobbly around the edges, but he would manage.  
"My superior says you were utterly exhausted when they found you." she offered.  
Obi-Wan nodded in assent. That had been the most physically and psychologically exhausting experience of his whole life.

"I've been asked to tell you that Grand Master Yoda and other two Masters are waiting for you in the meeting room down the corridor." the healer said cheerfully.  
"They're already here?!" he commented, alarmed but not surprised.  
The healer nodded. "They arrived early this morning. It must be because of the prisoner." she added, nodding to herself.  
"Maul... - Obi-Wan whispered - How is he? Have you got any news about him?" he asked, worry rising in him like the tide.  
"I have no idea, unfortunately. - she replied, shaking her pretty head - I was not involved with treating him. The Masters asked me to tell you that they wanted to meet you as soon as you woke up. It seemed urgent..." she then added.  
Obi-Wan forced himself to put his worry aside and looked around the room for clothes and footwear. His old clothes had been probably discarded and burned along with his old boots, and he could not stand in front of the Masters in his underwear.  
"On the chair." the healer pointed out."I'll be waiting for you outside." she added, leaving to give him a bit of privacy.  
The Jedi dressed himself as quickly as his sore muscles and bruised bones allowed and as he exited the infirmary he looked nearly exactly like he had been before the whole ordeal had begun. Only he knew how much things had changed.  
The healer showed him to a door down the corridor and left to her other business. Obi-Wan hesitated barely a moment in front of the closed door, sensing three powerful Force signatures on the inside. It was not going to be a walk in the park, he told to himself, but the sooner done the better. He took a deep breath and pushed the button on the doorjamb and the panel slid away into the wall with a soft pneumatic sound.

Obi-Wan strode in, finding himself not only in the presence of Grand Master Yoda, but also of Masters Windu and Adi-Ki-Mundi. The full complement of the Elders, he thought, asking himself what he had done to deserve the honour.  
"Masters..." he greeted, bowing low despite the protests of his back.  
"Young Obi-Wan, deeply worried for you we were." Yoda said, turning his big green eyes towards him and examining him minutely, as if to certify himself that he was still whole, that he was still the same.  
"Thank you Grand Master Yoda." he managed to reply. The old Master's solicitude instantly reminded him of Master Qui-Gon, sending a pang of grief coursing through his soul. He stowed it away for the moment.

"So you've captured a Sith. - Master Windu continued, going straight to the point as it was his custom - A truly noteworthy feat." he added with a penetrating stare.  
Obi-Wan expressed his thanks again, but did not volunteer more, keeping his expression studiously neutral and schooling his emotions to his best, even if his tongue burned with the need to ask them about him, how he was faring, if he was even still alive.  
"Strong in the Dark Side, the young Sith is." Yoda commented, nodding wisely.  
"I know this must be hard for you, but we need you to tell us exactly what happened." Master Ki-Adi-Mundi instructed, albeit in a very understanding and compassionate way.  
Obi-Wan took another deep breath and gave them a truthful but very abridged version of the facts. Talking about Master Qui-Gon's fall renewed the pain and the grief but he could not find any vestige of that terrible anger in himself anymore.

"Very interesting this is." Yoda commented.  
"Yes... You seem to have gone great lengths to preserve the prisoner's life. Why?" Master Windu inquired sharply.  
"Compassion is the essence of a Jedi. - Obi-Wan replied, true to form - He is a person too and deserves mercy like anyone else."  
The reply seemed to satisfy Windu, who let the topic drop.  
"So what is going to happen now, if I may be so bold to ask?" Obi-Wan said.  
"It's past time for your investiture, young one. After your gallant efforts, it cannot be delayed any longer. - Master Ki-Adi-Mundi replied - Your Master was quite adamant that young Anakin Skywalker needed to be trained in the path of the Jedi. We have decided that this duty will rest on you." he added with a grandfatherly smile.  
"We'll leave as soon as the prisoner is stable, we are taking him in custody from the Naboo. It won't be easy, but I'm sure we'll get the identity of his Master out of him, one way or another." added Master Windu, with a slight frown.  
"Yes, exactly. - confirmed Ki-Adi-Mundi - In a few days you'll officially be a Jedi Knight, young one. How do you like the idea?" he asked eyes twinkling in good humour under his bushy brows.

Obi-Wan could not repress a shiver of excitement, but tried to keep calm. In that moment, he could clearly see two paths opening up in front of him: if he followed the expected one, expressing gratitude to the council and accepting his post, he'd easily obtain everything he had always wished for, but he'd leave Maul to the not too tender mercy of the Elders. He would not talk to them, would not say anything and they would have to get the information out of him by entering his mind. He'd resist them, defy them to the last and they would break him. If he was lucky, he'd die, if not, he'd be left an empty shell of a man and everything he was, everything he could have been would be lost forever. The Elders were not cruel, but what was to them the life and sanity of a single Darksider compared to the fate of the Galaxy? They did not know him, they could not possibly know that there was still a bit of light left in him that could be fanned into a bright fire. He was the only one to know. He could ignore what he knew and go along with his life, or he could use this knowledge and try to change things for the better.

"I'd be honoured, Masters, this is what I have been hoping for all my life, but... I don't know how to say it and I know it is not my place to make requests of you..." he started, mentally berating himself for muddling everything up like that.  
"What are you trying to say? Speak up!" Master Windu ordered.  
Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "I request to be assigned to the custody of the prisoner instead. I believe I can make him cooperate." he blurted out, much more assured than he really felt.  
"Ah, do you now, young Padawan?" said Master Windu, transfixing him with the sort of stare that made fully-fledged knights quiver in their pants and padawans run for cover.  
Obi-Wan held his ground, keeping his head high and his gaze level. "In fact I do, Master Windu." he replied.  
"And how do you propose to accomplish this? - the dark-skinned Jedi Master insisted - By making puppy eyes at him? Or do you intend to torture him to avenge your master?"

Obi-Wan forced himself not to react in any way to the provocation. "He trusts me, to a certain extent, or is starting to. - he said calmly - There is some light still left in him, I think that he could be convinced to abandon the path of the Dark Side." he declared.  
"Oh, look at him, not yet a Knight but he thinks he is wise enough to attempt to reform a Sith. Where did you see that light, Padawan, that we could not?" Master Windu continued, laying on the sarcasm and expecting that he would desist, but he refused to let himself be cowed. They might be Masters and incredibly powerful in the Force, but the Force spoke to him as well, and he knew deep inside that it was an important battle to fight.  
"He fought honourably. And he saved me, down in the tunnels. Without his help, I would not be here with you now." he replied.  
"Hardly a selfless act, if he needed you to support him to get out of there, as you said earlier." Master Windu commented dryly.  
Obi-Wan shook his head. "He was fully expecting to die, after that. He could not walk any longer and he was so much in pain that he asked me to kill him." he said, shivering slightly as the scene passed in front of his eyes again.  
"And you refused and carried him out in your arms." Master Ki-Adi-Mundi continued for him.  
Obi-Wan nodded. "Exactly. I'm sure he had not planned for that."  
"Are you really so sure, young one? - Master Ki-Adi-Mundi continued - The Sith are cunning and play long games. Maybe he was fully expecting that you would be unable to kill him in cold blood and had orchestrated everything to gain your goodwill and sympathy in order to sway you."  
"Mission most easily accomplished, it seems." Master Windu interjected, sneering.

Obi-Wan felt a current of irritation course through him. "I don't think this would be his style. He's a fighter, not an agent provocateur. I mean, look at him!" he retorted. Maul would be bored silly by that sort of thing, he was sure. What he really was in for was fighting. That was also the only thing his Master had trained him in.  
"Not his style? Do you know him so well?" Master Windu asked again.  
Obi-Wan sighed. He would not be able to talk his way out of this if he did not speak of what the had seen, he just knew it, but it did not feel right to tell them everything. It was too personal and he was sure that Maul wouldn't want even him to have known.  
"While we were in the tunnels, he lost consciousness, then something strange happened. - he narrated quietly, still marvelling himself at the events - It was as if his mind had become permeable and I saw what was in it, so yes, in a way I know him well." he declared.

Master Windu opened his mouth as if to speak, but Obi-Wan was already fed up with his sarcasm and anticipated him.  
"No, I don't think he has shown me only what he wanted me to see. - he declared dryly - First he was unconscious, and second I don't think he would have wanted anyone to see what I saw. He is not some kind of diabolic Sith mastermind, but some young bloke who has been unloved and alone, used and abused since he was a little kid, and made into a weapon for his Master. He has been raised in a little artificial world where the Sith values were absolute truth and he had nothing to compare it to. He never had a choice to be on the Dark Side or not." he said.  
The Masters didn't say anything and Obi-Wan had the impression that they were waiting for him to finish his reasoning, so he ploughed on.  
"I know, he killed my Master, and I will always grieve for him, but it was a honourable duel. The prisoner fought better and prevailed. I cannot find anger and hate in me for that. - he added wearily - I think we should give him the choice he has always been denied, show him that there is another way." he concluded, panting slightly with the effort of explaining himself.

"Master Qui-Gon is not dead." Master Windu revealed.  
"What?!" Obi-Wan blurted out, elated and confused and half-afraid that it would be a dream or a terrible sort of joke.  
"He is still alive. - Master Windu confirmed - A medical officer got to him in time after you and the Sith fell in the reactor. He is gravely wounded though." he added gravely.  
"The tip of the saber nicked his spine. - Master Ki-Adi-Mundi explained - The Naboo have a very good spinal surgery unit here on Theed, but it will take him a long time to recover. At least six months, more probably close to a year. He is adamant that young Skywalker is to be trained, but that needs to be done soon."  
"It is already late enough. - Master Windu pressed on - You have a duty towards the child, Kenobi."  
"I have a duty towards Maul as well, Master." Obi-Wan retorted.  
Now that he knew his Master was alive, he saw even more clearly that the Force had meant for them to meet, that he was meant to help him. He faced the three Masters with renewed hope and determination.  
"Ah. Are you on a first-name basis with the Sith already?" Master Windu asked archly.  
"He is not a true Sith. There were three, a Master, an Apprentice and him. He was the odd man out." Obi-Wan replied, eluding the question.  
"And how do you know?" the dark-skinned Master insisted, narrowing his eyes.  
"You surely must have felt the upheaval in the Dark Side yesterday night, Master... - Obi-Wan insinuated - Down in the tunnels we did. Maul realised he has been used by his mentor. Now he doubts the Dark Side. He can find the way, I am sure." he added passionately, but Windu just looked at him with cold black eyes and didn't say a word. The other two Masters were equally silent and Obi-Wan felt a veil of despair descend on his thoughts.  
"I have nothing more to say. - he declared wearily - If you trust me and have faith in me, please, give us this chance. If you don't, then I do not see how I can continue serving in this Order." he said with finality, feeling a twinge of fear inside his heart. Everything was in balance now. He could lose everything he had ever worked for, just for a guy who had been nothing to him just a few days before.

"This is outrageous!" Master Windu exclaimed, incensed. Master Yoda, who had observed the whole scene without saying a single word, tapped his stick on the floor with a loud crack.  
"Silence! - he commanded - Your tale most extraordinary is, young Padawan, but not unheard of. Wise are your words. If a man can be redeemed, try we must. The prisoner you will guard and help find the way. Your sole responsability he will be. Young Anakin among the younglings will remain until you succeed or give up." he announced.  
Obi-Wan repressed his joy and relief and simply nodded. "Thank you, Grand Master Yoda. I will be worthy of the faith you have put in me."  
"Hmmm... See that you do. Now to him you must go. The battle with the Dark Side won has not yet been." Yoda replied.  
"Of course, Master! - he assented - May I tell Anakin of your decisions?"  
Yoda nodded. "You may."  
"And may I visit Master Qui-Gon?" he asked again, feeling like a youngling pleading for a favour.  
"Of course you can, young Kenobi. -Master Ki-Adi-Mundi replied - He is still very weak, though. You'll have to ask his doctor about visiting."  
"But he is out of the woods, isn't he?" Obi-Wan inquired timidly, fearing the answer.  
"He is. Now it is just a matter of patience and perseverance." the Cerean Master explained. Obi-Wan felt like hugging him, but limited himself to a heartfelt thanks and a bow.  
Yoda nodded again. " Rejoice we all do. Off you go now, Padawan. Time is short. May the Force be with you."  
Knowing that he had been dismissed, Obi-Wan bowed stiffly and scampered away before they could change idea.

The corridor was empty when he emerged.  
He retraced his steps towards the infirmary, looking for someone to give him information, but it appeared that nobody was around. Obi-Wan sighed and opened one of the doors at random. It appeared to be a ward, with a full complement of medical equipment and four beds, all occupied by Naboo soldiers injured in the battle. A medical droid zipped towards him.  
"What do you think you are doing here? - it asked, in a tone that was quiet but evidently irritated - These are not visiting hours!"  
"Apologies ma'am. - Obi-Wan replied, embarrassed - I'm looking for the Sith prisoner."  
The droid whirred and clicked in thought for a moment. "Male Zabrak, extensive abdominal wound and infection?" it asked, evidently thinking about its patients in terms of diseases and injuries.  
Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes ma'am."  
The droid revolved on its central wheel, facing the direction from which Obi-Wan had come. "Second door to the left. Isolation ward. - it pointed out - You'll need clearance from the Jedi Elders for this."  
"I have it. I'm in charge of the prisoner from now on." Obi-Wan replied.  
The droid whirred again in silence. "Then this solves it. - it said finally - Good luck to you Master Jedi." it added, nearly slamming the door of the ward in his face, without leaving him the time to inquire about Master Qui-Gon.

Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head. Medical droids were a weird lot, but at least he had part of the information he wanted. Retracing his steps, he stopped in front of the right door for a moment, taking a deep breath, then activated the switch and strode in with trepidation.  
The room was occupied by a single bed, surrounded by several different pieces of medical equipment. Maul lay there, still unconscious. Tubes, cables and IV drips connected him to the various pieces of equipment, monitoring parameters and delivering various fluids and drugs. An ECG monitor beeped steadily and the the spikes succeeded each other regularly, albeit at a different rhythm than a human's would.  
Obi-Wan walked closer to the bed. Maul looked strangely frail and young lying there against the off-white sheets. From his behaviour and ability, Obi-Wan had thought that he must be older than himself upon first meeting him, but now he realised that they must be very close in age or that Maul would be younger than him, not much more than a lad.  
His patterned brows were furrowed and his hands clenched upon the sheets, as if even in his dreams he was fighting against something.  
Obi-Wan gently brushed his fingers against his hand, feeling the skin nearly burning under his touch, and extended his Force-presence to gently rest against Maul's.

The now-familiar stream of images hit him, staggering him even as he was bracing for it. He accepted it, allowing the boundaries between their perceptions to blur.  
Being helpless and out of control clearly sent the Darksider's mind spinning towards the worst experiences of his life. The Dark Side preached that only power counted and that the weak should expect no mercy or respite beyond what could be granted or taken away at a whim of their masters, that they were safe only as long as they were useful.  
Maul had learned that from experience and now he was terrified of being powerless again, but Obi-Wan fully intended to show him that it need not be so.  
Over the frail bridge that had formed between them, he tried to send peaceful memories and nice feelings, so that Maul could use them as an anchor to keep himself calm and evade the maelstrom of darkness that was threatening to engulf him.  
"You are not alone now. - he whispered - I'll be right beside you when you need me."  
Wild yellow eyes shot open. "Obi-Wan..." Maul rasped, his voice muffled by the oxygen mask that covered his mouth and nose. His hand wrapped around the Jedi's wrist, as if holding him there.  
"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. - Obi-Wan said softly, with an encouraging smile - I told you we'd both make it."  
Maul nodded weakly, closing his eyes again. "'M so tired... Can't fight it..." he slurred, clearly affected by the fever and whatever painkillers they were giving him.  
"Just sleep. I'll be here to watch your back." Obi-Wan said warmly.  
Maul nodded again and squeezed his wrist gently. He was out as a light again in a moment, but his mind was much calmer now. He was hanging on to his presence as a source of comfort, like one would cling to a rope to haul himself out of quicksand. To Obi-Wan it was both heart-wrenching and humbling that he should be the one to give him strength.

The door to the ward opened with a puff of air and a whirr and the senior medical officer he had met at the stream stalked in, arms akimbo and clearly demanding an explanation for his presence. "What do you think you are doing here, young man? - she said, transfixing him with her steely eyes - This is an isolation ward." she announced.  
"And I'm here to watch over the prisoner by order of the Jedi Council." he replied assuredly. Maul's grip on his wrist had weakened as he relaxed in sleep, so he held his hand in his own, unwilling to break the contact for now. He needed rest to recover, not to fight his way out of countless nightmares."Then the Jedi Council is wasting your time, my lad. This one 's not going anywhere for a while, if ever." she barked, moving to a terminal and scanning through screen after screen of data.  
"How... How bad it actually is?" he asked, as quiet as he could.  
The doctor stared at him long and hard before replying and Obi-Wan nearly trembled with dread.  
"He's been patched up all right, even if he was in a right mess. I've done it myself. - she explained with professional pride - Lightsaber wounds always leave clear edges and don't bleed much, but..." she added, shaking her head. Her big earrings, only ornament of her severe, nearly military figure, tinkled loudly.  
"But...?" Obi-Wan repeated.  
"I'll be frank with you, young man. He's a fit young fellow, but he's got himself a nasty and deep infection from his trip in the waste-pit. I'm doing my best and giving him the best and most powerful antibiotics I've got, but it's not absolutely guaranteed that he'll make it. - she revealed - That even if he does not get himself a heart attack or dies of exhaustion because of his night terrors." she added.  
"What are the chances?" Obi-Wan asked, trying to keep the dread and anxiety he was experiencing from reaching Maul through the Force-bridge between them.  
"I'd say 50%. - she replied tonelessly - He's got 50% chances of making it, more if he finally manages to rest."  
"I'll see that he does, ma'am." Obi-Wan said, squeezing Maul's hand as if trying to reassure him.  
"Do you actually have to stay here and hold his hand?" she asked, rather baffled.  
Obi-Wan acquiesced. "It'll help, at least to start with. I can shield him better if we touch."  
She shook her head. "I see. I'll never fully understand how mind-linking works, I was crap at most Force manifestations, but any port in a storm, as they say. " she said ruefully.  
Obi-Wan blinked in confusion, then adjusted his tuning into the flow of the Force and now that he know where to look for it, he realised that the doctor had a Force-presence of her own, not very strong but definite and clear, evidently trained.  
"Are you a Jedi as well?" he asked hesitantly. If she was, he had never seen her before.  
"I never made it through the Initiate Trials. I have a limited gift.- she revealed - But I served in the MediCorps for eight years before coming home to study medicine for another eight years at Theed University. Is that enough for you, or are you one of those assholes who think that Jedi are the only ones worth something?" she asked, crossing her arms on her chest.  
"I... Yes, I mean. - Obi-Wan stammered, cheeks burning in embarrassment - I didn't mean to offend you, madam. It's just... I've never met a Jedi-trained doctor outside the Temple before." he explained weakly.  
"Well, now you have. They should let you people out of the gates a bit more, so you'd see what the real world is like. - she grumbled - I'll find you a chair." she added then, more gently.  
"That would be much appreciated." he said, genuinely relieved.

The doctor took a folding chair from a cupboard and opened it, placing it next to Obi-Wan, who sank down with gratitude: he was not yet fully recovered from the battle. Crossing his legs on the seat, he nodded to the doctor and closed his eyes, starting a meditation exercise. He could feel Maul's presence still clinging to his own. It was not a bad feeling, for some reason.  
"I'll leave you to do your thing, then, my lad." the doctor said, still slightly dubious.  
Obi-Wan nodded, barely paying attention and soon he felt her presence leave the room.  
The Jedi focused on his breath and emptied his mind, putting all feelings aside. There was no worry for his Master or Maul, no anxiety on Anakin's behalf. He left all worries behind for a while as he became one with the Force.

Some time later, a hand shook Obi-Wan's shoulder, wrenching him away from his meditative trance. His blue eyes shot open, focusing on the doctor.  
"Are you feeling alright, young man?" she asked, frowning in concern.  
He blinked and frowned as well. "I'm fine, ma'am, why do you ask?" he inquired, rather puzzled.  
"You felt strange in the Force, I was worried." she explained.  
"Maul's mind shield is down. I'm covering him with mine. I must have felt all over the place." Obi-Wan replied.  
"That you did, my lad." she confirmed, nodding to herself.  
"How long has it been?" he asked, noticing the change in the quality of the light that filtered through the curtains.  
"A couple of hours. - she replied - I don't know exactly how, but what you did has worked. He's never had two unbroken hours of rest ever since the general anesthesia wore off." she commented cheerfully.  
Obi-Wan glanced at the bed. Maul appeared to be fast and peacefully asleep, his breath even and his features relaxed. Obi-Wan felt inordinately happy about this, however it was now time to deal with his other assignment.  
"Glad to be of help. - he said, with a warm smile - I need to leave for a while, will you inform me if the situation changes in any way?"  
"Sure, why not? He's your prisoner, after all. - she assented - Do you have a commlink?"  
Obi-Wan handed his over and the doctor docked it into the room terminal and quickly tapped some codes on the touchscreen to register his contact.  
"I'll let you know if anything happens and I'll tell my colleague from the night shift to do the same, if that's OK with you." she said, handing the commlink back to him.  
"I'll be back well before the night shift begins- Obi-Wan reassured her - It'll be just an hour or so, I hope."  
It all hinged on how understanding Anakin proved to be under the circumstances. He was a bright boy, but quite headstrong, and he had formed a strong attachment to Master Qui-Gon in the scant few days they had spent together. He was bound to be upset and angry about what happened, and he did not have years of training to fall back onto as the other younglings would have acquired after years of schooling at the Temple.  
It could be tough.  
The doctor eyed him sceptically. "Try not to burn yourself out, my lad. I know you want to help, but even you Jedi have limits and you won't be able to help your mate there if you are falling around in exhaustion." she admonished sternly, gesturing towards the bed.  
"I'll be fine, ma'am. - he reassured - We'll both be fine, you'll see." He let go of Maul's hand and lay it back down on the covers, but he did not let the more immaterial contact fall. Through the mind-bridge he felt only calm.  
Reassured, he strode away from the bed. "See you later, doctor." he said, and slid out of the room.

Now, where would Anakin be, if left to his own devices? Either with Padme, or in the hangar, dabbling with something mechanic, he judged.  
He concentrated briefly and quickly found the boy's bright Force-signature. He followed it through the corridors and down to the ground floor and then into an area at the back of the palace and into a suite of rooms slightly detached from the main body of the building. He felt the connection he had established with Maul fade with the distance, but did not worry much about it. He was sure Maul would be fine on his own for a while. He opened the door behind which Anakin's presence was located and, predictably, found himself in some kind of mechanical workshop.

Anakin was sitting cross-legged on the floor with a magnetic screwdriver and a set of other tools handy next to him, all intent at taking the engine of a Naboo fighter apart.  
Obi-Wan approachd him silently and sat down next to him. The boy was so concentrated that he only noticed him when he called his name. "Anakin..."  
Startled, the boy nearly dropped his tool. "Obi-Wan! I didn't hear you coming. - he said, slightly embarrassed - I thought you were still in the infirmary. Are you feeling better now?"  
Obi-Wan nodded. "No lasting damage, apart from my nose. - he declared smiling - I'm sorry to have left you alone in the last day or so.""It's alright. - Anakin said, shrugging - Padme gave me a room in the palace and I've been mostly hanging around with the rest of the pilots. They have kind of adopted me, after we've taken down the flagship of the Feds..." he added with a certain pride.  
"You've done what?" Obi-Wan asked, wide eyed.  
"I didn't mean to, but you told me to take cover and the fighter I had hidden into just took off. I was along for the ride anyway, so I did my best to help. What else could have I done?" he retorted, slightly, but not too much, apologetic.

Obi-Wan sighed. What was he supposed to do with this kid? He was a brave lad, even too bright for his own good and ready to help his fellows at the drop of a hat. Should he try to curb his inclinations? He didn't really feel like berating him at the moment, even if maybe he should.  
"It must not have been too hard after you career as a podracer." he commented.  
"It was tough, instead. You don't usually move in the third dimension in podracing, and no one tries to gun you down." the boy replied, shaking his blond, shaggy head.  
"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked, worry seeping into his mind.  
Anakin shrugged again. "I was scared. - he admitted - Some of the other pilots did not make it, but if the Feds had conquered Theed it would have been much worse, wouldn't it?" he asked.  
"Yes, it would. You were very brave." the Jedi said, squeezing the boy's thin shoulder in reassurance.  
"I even got a medal. - the boy said, pointing to a small gold-and-red decoration pinned to the front of his tunic - Padme gave it to me... Well, she gave one to all of us, but... Will I be able to keep it when I'm a Jedi?" he asked, giving Obi-Wan his best puppy eyes.  
"I'm not sure, kiddo." he answered truthfully.

Prospective padawans did not have anything to leave behind when they started proper training with a Knight, as they had been mostly raised in the Temple for as long as they could remember. Anakin was a special case, he was much older than usual, he had been with his family until a few days before, and was deeply attached to his mother. He had had a life beyond the Temple and Obi-Wan did not really know how much the usual rules would actually apply to him. They probably would have to make a new set just for him.  
"Will they even want me, now that Master Qui-Gon is... now that he is ill? - Anakin continued - I went to see him yesterday. He was in a tank and he couldn't hear me." he revealed, shaking his head sadly.  
"That must have been bacta. It will make him feel better sooner." Obi-Wan explained.  
"Oh. He looked very, very ill, though. It was scary. - the boy confessed - They say he will not be able to walk for months, so he can't start training me. And I know I'm too old and maybe you don't... You know, maybe you don't want to train me... because maybe I won't be any good at it... And if no one will train me... They offered me a job here, you know? In the fleet. They'd pay for my training and all. I'd have money to provide for myself and I'd save some to buy my mom's freedom from Watto." he revealed, perking up again towards the end.

That was unexpected, Obi-Wan thought, but maybe it was for the best.  
He could not easily see Anakin shedding his passionate nature and leaving his feelings for his mother behind. On the other hand, the boy had one of the strongest Force-signatures he had ever encountered, almost as bright as Yoda's. Talent such as that was not easily kept dormant and could cause terrible problems if some measure of control was not put in place.  
The decision of assigning him to a clan of younglings could not be any wiser: it would allow him to receive some basic training and get used to the rules of the Order. Only then it would be apparent whether Anakin was really suited to the way of the Jedi. At least he would have something else to fall back on if he wasn't. It was a safety net most Jedi Initiates didn't have.

"Don't be silly, Ani, you have enormous talent. You'll be a great Jedi, one of the greatest." he said only.  
"Then you'll train me?" Anakin asked, all excited.  
"Things are a bit more complicated than that, Ani. - he replied - The Council has assigned me to the custody of the prisoner for the time being. You'll stay with other kids your age for a while, so you'll have time to make friends and see if you like being in the Order. And maybe by then Master Qui-Gon will be well enough to train you himself."  
"The rules are tough. I'm not sure I will be able to follow them all." the boy admitted seriously.  
"Well, if you think life in the Order is not for you, I'm sure you'll have a brilliant career as a fighter pilot in the Royal Naboo Fleet." he reassured the boy, patting him gently on the back.  
Anakin smiled, then became serious again. "And what if I'm alright with it? Will you train me then if Master Qui-Gon is not OK yet?" he asked.  
"Of course I will! - he replied - I'd be honoured to, if the council approves."  
"I can't see why they should not. You're good at this, you even captured a Sith!" the boy exclaimed.  
"Yes, I did, but that is not the only thing that counts." he retorted.  
"Obi-Wan is the Sith the one who... did he... was he the one who nearly killed Master Qui-Gon?" Anakin asked, now gloomy like rain in winter.  
Obi-Wan nodded, his heart wrenching again at the memory.  
"I'm glad you nearly killed him back, then. I wish you killed him full stop, so he wouldn't be able to hurt nice people anymore." Anakin continued.  
"He surrendered, Ani. You don't kill people who are defenseless or have given up. It is wrong." he explained  
"But..." the boy started to protest, but Obi-Wan did not let him finish the sentence.  
"Would his death have made Master Qui-Gon better?" he asked.  
Anakin shook his head ruefully.  
"Then there was no reason to kill him. People get wounded and even die in a war, Ani, it will always be like this as long as wars keep being fought. But when it's over you need to forgive, otherwise there will never be peace." he explained.  
"But he is a Sith. He is evil." the boy still objected.  
"He's done many bad things, yes, killed a lot of people, but he's not completely gone to the Dark Side yet. - he replied - He's still honourable and he saved my life. I nearly got eaten by a... thing and he chased it away."  
"Then why did he let himself fall to the Dark Side?" the boy asked, perplexed.

Obi-Wan hesitated. To tell or not to tell him the story?  
"He didn't properly fall, as such. - he started, going for an expurgated version of the truth - When he was a kid, way younger than you are, he ended up as a slave to this older Sith and he trained him to be a killer. He has been very badly treated and has never known anything else until now. He is like... all confused about what is right and what is wrong." he revealed.  
"But if he is a killer and the other Sith treated him so badly, why didn't he kill him dead?" the boy objected.  
'Well, it's not that easy. The other Sith has raised him, he must be important to him. Like a really, really evil father, sort of." Obi-Wan hypothesised.  
"Ah, I know! - Anakin exclaimed - There was this family in Mos Espa. A widower and his son. They had a moisture farm, one of the small ones. The father was a drunkard and he beat the crap out of the kid nearly every day, but when another drunkard attacked his father in a bar brawl, the kid jumped in to defend his father and nearly killed the drunk with a bottle. He would have done anything for his father, even if he treated him like crap." he said.  
"His father must be the only thing the boy has." Obi-Wan commented.  
"Yes, but it is sad, is it not?" Anakin sighed.  
"Yes, very sad." Obi-Wan agreed.  
"So what will you do with the Sith?" Anakin asked  
"His name is Maul." Obi-Wan clarified.  
Anakin arched an eyebrow. "As in the verb?"  
"I'm afraid so." he admitted.  
Anakin stifled a giggle. "Sorry, I know it's not funny, but in a way it is, you know? Anyway, what will be of him?" he asked.  
"He needs to heal first, then I'll try to help him sort himself out. There is Light enough in him and he is strong enough to find his way out of the Dark, I'm sure." he said.  
Anakin grimaced. "You like him." he accused.  
"He's not bad when he does not remember that he should be hating everyone." Obi-Wan replied, almost apologetically.  
"I'd like to meet him."Anakin said.  
"I'll arrange for you two to meet as soon as he is better." Obi-Wan promised.  
"The troopers are saying that he's all red and black and horned like a devil. Is it true?" the boy asked, curious and slightly weirded out at the same time.  
"He's a Zabrak, from Iridonia. They all have horns and tattoos. - Obi-Wan explained - There are a couple of other Jedi from Iridonia at the Temple. Fierce people, all of them."  
"Wow! - Anakin exclaimed - There must be a lot of interesting people at the Temple..."  
"You'll meet them all in due time. I think the Masters will be bringing you back there when they go." Obi-Wan said, trying to allay his excitement.  
"Oh! And when would that be?" Anakin asked, looking disappointed.  
"A few days, I think. - guessed- I'll probably be staying a bit longer, at least until Maul is a bit better, but it won't be very long before we see each other again."  
"And then you'll be my teacher." Anakin concluded.  
"Only if you agree to train as a Jedi." Obi-Wan retorted.  
"I'll think deeply about it. - the boy promised, all solemn and serious - Is that your commlink going off?" he added, pointing to the device in his pocket, which had just started beeping and vibrating.

Obi-Wan nodded and extracted the thing out of his pocket with a certain anxiety.  
"Doctor?" he said in the speaker.  
"Time to get yourself back here, my lad. Your friend here is having another fit." she announced.  
"I'll be there in ten." Obi-Wan replied, closing the communication and shooting to his feet.  
"Gotta go, Ani." he told the boy, who looked rather dejected.  
"What's wrong?" he asked.  
"I don't know. I have to ho to help the doctor. I'll see you again tomorrow, don't worry." he reassured. There was no way he was divulging the fact that Maul was so weak from the wound and the infection that he could not keep his mind shields up. He would not have wanted it.  
"OK. See ya!" Anakin said, unconvinced.  
Obi-Wan waved a goodbye and darted along the corridors, towards the infirmary.

"Quickly, do whatever you did before. He's worked himself into a frenzy again!" the doctor greeted him, as he came through the door.  
Maul was tossing and turning on the bed, struggling against... restraints? Why had the doctor strapped him to the bed?  
"He was delirious! And he was trying to sit up! - she explained, probably following his line of thought - I tried to calm him down through the Force, but I couldn't reach him. I had no choice! He would have reopened the wound!"  
Obi-Wan did not waste any time replying and rushed to Maul's bedside, throwing the connection open again.  
He had anticipated that it would not be pretty, but not how bad it would actually be.  
Triggered by the straps, Maul was reliving the memory of when he had gotten his tattoos.

_His mind was a jumble of pain and terror, as control was stripped from him and inch by inch his whole body experienced burning agony._  
_Nearby his Master watched impassively as the marks of his ownership were etched on him and he could not even bring himself to scream out of fear of disappointing him with his weakness._

Feeling like he was going to retch, Obi-Wan tried to concentrate on something soothing, to lure him away from that horror.

_He was on the bank of a river, barefoot on the grass, and the sun was high and warm above him. Master Qui-Gon was teaching him to fish and they laughed and the war was far, far away._

_The vastness of space the first time he remembered flying in a spaceship. The universe was a deep blue-black cloth and the stars looked like pearls of different colours and diamond dust and he could not tear his eyes away from it._

_The first and only kiss Siri had ever given him, wet and sweet and awkward, and how they had laughed afterwards, until tears were streaming out of their eyes._

Little by little, Maul calmed down again, and the other memory faded back to where it had come from.  
He was clinging hard to his presence, as if that could reassure him that nothing wrong would happen. Obi-Wan exhaled a deep sigh of relief and quickly undid the restrains, tossing the padded leather straps to the ground angrily.  
"Whatever happens, don't do this again." he barked at the doctor. The true object of his anger, however, was not the hapless medic, but the cloaked figure from Maul's memories. If only he could get his hands on that bastard...No, he needed to calm down, otherwise he would not be of any help. He needed to keep the contact between them up at all times, or as close as he could manage, until the fever broke and Maul regained control of his mind shields. It might be a while, if the infection was as nasty as the doctor thought, but he would not baulk.

"I'll need a place to sleep as close as possible to here." he told the doctor, as he rubbed hopefully soothing circles on the back of Maul's hand. The tattoos drew patterns along the bones. Luminara, one of his fellow Padawans who hailed from Miriale, had once told him that face and hands were the most painful places to get ink done on. These tattoos stood for something terrible like the marks of a slave, but they were beautiful, he caught himself thinking.  
"There is a bunk bed behind that door. Usually it is for nurses." the doctor said, looking quite surprised by his reaction.  
"I'll wear a sexy white outfit if you prefer." he replied, deadpan, then mentally berated himself for being so unpleasant. She had no fault in this, she was only trying to help.  
The doctor just lifted an eyebrow. "I wouldn't mind seeing that." she said, giving him an appreciative once-over.  
Obi-Wan flushed, feeling rather stupid.  
The doctor laughed, feeling suddenly very familiar. Where had he already seen that smile and that slightly upturned nose?  
"I didn't mean to scare you, young man. It's alright. - she reassured him- If you bunk here, however, you will be on call all the time if something happens to your mate here or any other of my patients, do you understand?"  
"I do, madam, but I think there will be no more emergencies, as long as I can keep in range all the time." Obi-Wan said.  
"If you say so... - she conceded, shrugging - Anyway, here is the room and stop calling me madam, I'm not that old." she protested, opening another door and revealing a rather cramped compartment with two spaceship-style berths and a door. That probably led to a refresher. It was all very basic, but it would do for a while.  
"How should I call you, then?" he asked.  
"I'm doctor Sadè Naberrie, but you can call me Doc." she replied.  
Obi-Wan looked back at her with a very confused expression.  
So that was why she felt so familiar... The likeness between them was eerie, now that he thought about it. Give some twenty years and take the soft edges and the ridiculously long hair away, she could be the twin of Queen Amidala.

"Are you..." he started to ask.  
"No, just her aunt. - Doc chimed in, shaking her head - Her father and me, we are twins. People used to mistake us for each other all the time when we were kids. Anyway, I hope the room is OK." she added with a goofy smile.  
"It'll be perfect." he replied with a smile of his own.  
Doc nodded. "As long as you remain here, you'll have to obey to me in any medical matter, understood?" she continued, back to her businesslike demeanour.  
Obi-Wan nodded. "I'm with the Jedi, we're trained to obey."  
"Yes, I know. Poor things... - she said wistfully - Your mate is lucky to have you around to help." she commented.  
"He's not my friend. He's a prisoner." Obi-Wan protested.  
"If you say so... - said Doc, raising an eyebrow in doubt - I'll pop by the other wards, if something happens, hit the "doctor on call" button on the terminal to contact me, alright?" she instructed.

Obi-Wan acquiesced and followed her into the main room of the ward, letting the door close behind him. He sat down by the bed as she left, casting a glance towards the sleeping Darksider.  
Maul could not by any stretch of the definition be called his friend, he told himself, as if trying to convince himself. He was not getting attached to him, it wasn't just against the rules, it would be totally daft. Maybe Maul was not a proper Sith, but he was still a Darksider, and he would be a Jedi Knight soon enough. Friendship between them would be absurd.  
But if he turned away from the Dark...  
If he was just Maul, the crazy, brave and sarcastic bastard that had saved him in the tunnel and that still clung to a shard of light despite everything, then it would be easy for him to like him, to desire his friendship. It would actually be hard for him not to.

Obi-Wan sighed and closed his eyes, forcing himself to stop fantasizing and just let himself feel.  
Maul's Force-presence was like a banked fire next to him. Through the bridge between them, he caught a glimpse of green fields and movement, excitation and utter lack of concern. He was dreaming something pleasant, finally, he noticed with satisfaction.  
There was hope yet, and he would make sure that it would stay alive.


	5. Intensive Care

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Star Wars characters. I do own the OCs, though. I do not make a £ from this.**

Warning: a bit of bad language and some manly tears.

Flame all you want, I'm fireproof.

* * *

The room where Master Qui-Gon was staying was in a different section of the hospital from where he was doing his improvised residency, but the decor and the smell of bacta were identical.  
Master Qui-Gon was lying in the bed at the center of the room, awake and looking a bit tired but otherwise fine. Looking at his face and at his clear, wise eyes, it didn't look like he had nearly died not a week before. His limbs, however, were held in a complicated apparatus that prevented him from moving and misaligning the reconstructed bits of his spine. It didn't look comfortable, but Master Qui-Gon didn't appear to mind.

"Obi-Wan!" the older Jedi exclaimed, as soon as he saw him step in.  
"Master... - Obi-Wan greeted, smiling so much that his face almost hurt - I am sorry that I didn't manage to come earlier..." he started to apologise.  
"It's not your fault, young one. They took me out of bacta only yesterday evening." Qui-Gon interrupted him.  
"I heard that from Doc, but we were a bit busy delivering a baby..." Obi-Wan explained apologetically.  
"Doc?" Master Qui-Gon inquired, raising an eyebrow.  
"Doctor Sadé Naberrie. - he explained - she is looking after M... after the prisoner, and is giving me some medical training as well. You never know when it might come in handy." he added, hoping that his Master wouldn't notice the slip of his tongue.  
"The name rings a bell." Master Qui-Gon commented.  
"She was at the Jedi Temple, Medi-Corps, then she left for university." Obi-Wan replied, relieved for the distraction.  
Qui-Gon's eyes widened in surprise. "Don't you say... I remember her. She was a very bright girl. Very dedicated as well. - he reminisced - The Galaxy is not such a big place, it appears..." he commented.  
"Yeah, indeed. - Obi-Wan confirmed cheerfully - How are you feeling Master?" he asked, worry filtering through his armour of calm. He had discreetly checked his vital parameters on the monitors, as he had started to do almost subconsciously ever since starting his training with Doc, and they looked normal, but that didn't mean much. A person could be stable and still feel like crap.  
"All considered, reasonably well. - he replied sedately - I am still alive, and the doctors are very optimistic about my complete recovery. Yesterday evening I could almost feel my toes again." he added cheerfully.  
Obi-Wan forced himself to smile, forcing his guilt to the background. Probably part of it was borrowed, but he still felt uncomfortable about how his immediate worry for Maul had put the more remote worry for his Master in the back burner. He should have come to visit him earlier, he chided himself.

"Master Windu told me you are going back to the Temple with them tomorrow." Obi-Wan said, switching subject.  
"I am, indeed. - Qui-Gon confirmed - Master Windu is convinced that they will be able to treat me better there." he explained.  
Obi-Wan gave him a perplexed look.  
"This hospital is top-notch. Especially compared to some butcheries we have ended up in." he objected.  
"Oh, yes. I shudder at the thought. - Qui-Gon agreed - I have a suspicion that the quality of the treatment is not the issue. They might be worried about any Sith agents left in Theed. You are staying behind, right?" he asked.  
Obi-Wan nodded, wondering where Qui-Gon might be aiming at with his question. "Yes, Master. Maul... I mean, the prisoner is not yet well enough to be transported anywhere." he replied, feeling his cheeks burn and his anxiety spike as his tongue slipped. What would his Master think of the fact that he was on a first name basis with the person who had nearly killed him and reduced him to lie in bed for the next six months to a year? It must sound like betrayal.  
Qui-Gon smiled gently. "It's alright, young one. - he reassured - Master Yoda told me about what happened to you and him after I was wounded. I know you are trying to reform him. It is a noble endeavor." he said.  
"I... I am glad that you approve, Master." Obi-Wan said with relief.  
"And if I didn't, would you desist?" Qui-Gon asked.  
"No. - Obi-Wan answered immediately, without even having to pause for thought - I feel that it is the right thing to do. That it is important." he added, trying to soften his statement, but feeling an acute sense of frustration at his inability to convey the urgency and the weight of that feeling.  
"Now you know how it feels when the Force shows you the potential of a person. " Qui-Gon said.  
"Yes, Master. Look, I am sorry for all the times I got irritated with you for following these feelings. - Obi-Wan apologised - I suppose you cannot understand until you actually feel it."  
"You've grown a lot, young one." Qui-Gon commented, sounding pleased and maybe proud.  
Obi-Wan shrugged. "I suppose it happens when you are thrown in at the deep end." he minimised.  
"You feel more mature, more experienced in the Force. Even your signature is different." Qui-Gon insisted.

"Bugger!" Obi-Wan thought. It had been rather optimistic to think that his Master wouldn't notice that there was something unusual in him.  
While Grand Master Yoda had been his usual inscrutable self, Windu and Adi-Ki Mundi had been less then thrilled to discover that he had accidentally mind-linked with a Darksider. Probably people would flip the lid if they knew that he was still doing it, and that now it was intentional and long-term. Obi-Wan felt a probing tendril of Force come his way from his Master and in a moment of panic considered cutting the link and playing coy, but that would mean leaving Maul alone with his still-weakened shields and those memories pressing upon his mind.  
It was already bad enough that he had to live through that once, making him go through that again would be too cruel.  
Obi-Wan took a deep breath and forced himself to relax, accepting his Master's probing. He didn't have anything to hide. What he was doing might have been reckless, but it wasn't in disagreement with the tenets of the Jedi Order, he reassured himself.

"Oh, my dear boy... - Qui-Gon whispered, looking at him almost with awe - This thing you are doing... I heard of it, but I've never seen it done. You must have grown very much in the Force." he concluded.  
Obi-Wan blushed. "I'm not doing anything that special." he said defensively.  
"I say that you are. Force-bonding is an ancient technique whose precise details got lost in the fall of the Old Republic. - he explained - It is also a very risky technique, one that should not be attempted lightly." he added with a weighty gaze, as if to warn him.  
"It wasn't that hard to get this thing started. - Obi-Wan replied with a shrug - We did it by chance. And anyway it wasn't like there was much choice. The prisoner... Maul... His wound got infected and for some reason it wrecked his mind shields. He was delirious and hallucinating. I just... I don't know how to explain it... I just gave him an anchor to something better, just showed him some peace."  
Trapped in that apparatus, Qui-Gon couldn't actually nod, but Obi-Wan saw a glimmer of understanding light up in his eyes.  
"And you're still doing it." he said.  
"The fever has not broken yet. He is slipping in and out of consciousness. - Obi-Wan explained as neutrally as he could - If I leave him alone, he would last about an hour tops before the nightmares kick in. So when I'm awake, I anchor him to reality, and when we are both sleeping, I cover him with my mind shield." he explained.  
"You share dreams?" Qui-Gon asked, eyes going wide in wonder or worry. Hard to tell.  
"Eh... We do actually." Obi-Wan replied, feeling slightly anxious. Was that a no-no? Had they breached an unspoken taboo?  
"How is it?" Qui-Gon asked instead with marked interest.  
"It's fun. A bit weird sometimes." Obi-Wan explained, slightly surprised by his Master's reaction.  
"Weird how?" Qui-Gon asked again.  
"Carnivorous tomatoes armed with blasters, and Grand Master Yoda in drag. That's all I'm going to say..." Obi-Wan said, repressing a smirk.  
Qui-Gon burst into laughter. "Oh, boy... Your secret is safe with me. - he declared with a grin - Just tell me one more thing. Who came up with the Yoda thing?"  
Obi-Wan smiled. "It's hard to say. One of us comes up with an initial image, but the final result... well, I suppose it was mainly my fault, but he helped a lot with the details. He has a devious sense of humour." he confessed.  
"And you don't?" Qui-Gon teased him.  
Obi-Wan blushed again. "I suppose I do." he replied, thinking about the sharp, sarcastic remarks that he and Maul had exchanged in the tunnels.

"You know, when I was a Padawan, I and Master Dooku were sent to a planet called Kalee to train the local warriors against the Bitthaevrians." Qui-Gon started, his narrative seemingly disconnected from the rest of their conversation.  
Obi-Wan frowned. Maybe it was an effect of the painkillers, he though, casting a quick glance to the treatment schedule to check how much stuff they had given him, but apparently he was on a very low dose. He repressed a sigh and returned his attention to his Master, nodding in acknowledgement.  
"Isn't Kalee that place where Master T'chooka Doon was sent a couple years ago? Wasn't his mission about stopping the Kaleesh from going into a killing spree against their neighbours? - Obi-Wan asked, more to show that he was listening than out of genuine interest - They had to withdraw and do an orbital, didn't they?"  
"Yes, they did. - Qui-Gon confirmed sadly - I doubt the truth about the conflict was as clear-cut as they reported, though." he added grimly  
"So what happened to you in Kalee, Master?" Obi-Wan asked, steering the conversation back on track.  
"Well, young one, there was a girl..." Qui-Gon said with a hint of a smile.  
"A girl?" Obi-Wan repeated.  
"A woman, really. - Qui-Gon clarified - Sereq was her name. She was older than me and had been widowed in a raid. She even had a child. She was the finest sharpshooter I have ever met." he added with a faraway expression.  
"Ah, that's a nice euphemism..." Obi-Wan teased.  
Qui-Gon blushed hard under the beard. "It's not an euphemism. She was an amazing fighter." he explained with obvious fondness.  
"Was she beautiful?" Obi-Wan asked.  
"She was beautiful to me. - Qui-Gon replied - The Kaleesh bear very superficial resemblance to humans."  
"They are lizardfolk, right?" Obi-Wan guessed, drawing on snatches of half-remembered conversations.  
"Yes, young one." Qui-Gon confirmed.  
"I bet Master Dooku had a fit about it." Obi-Wan commented, shaking his head.  
"He never knew. We were discreet. - Qui-Gon retorted with a smile - Anyway, what I meant to say was that once she convinced me to try some strange weed they used to communicate with their gods."  
"And you went with the plan?" Obi-Wan asked, incredulous.  
"I was seventeen and completely besotted." the older Jedi justified himself, blushing a bit more.  
"And what happened?" Obi-Wan insisted.  
"Several things..." Qui-Gon replied with a smirk.  
Obi-Wan's jaw nearly dropped at the implication. He knew that his Master had had a significant other for quite a while, but not that he had had others before.  
"... among which, we shared a dream, or a vision. - Qui-Gon continued - It was weird and puzzling and then it veered towards scary as hell for a while, but it was also the most exhilarating and intimate thing I've ever felt." he confessed.  
"I know what you mean." Obi-Wan admitted, concentrating for a moment on the link. Maul's presence reverberated through him, rippling with emotions. He was getting upset about something, so Obi-Wan sent a pulse of reassurance down the link, letting him know that he was still there and everything was alright. Maul concentrated harder on his side, probably as he briefly surfaced to full consciousness, and the link tightened, and for a moment he could almost see the infirmary room in the other wing of the hospital, the trees waving in the wind out of the window and Doc sitting nearby with the book he had been reading.

"Hospital to Obi-Wan! Do you copy?" Qui-Gon teased, shaking him out of his concentration.  
"Eh! - Obi-Wan exclaimed, blinking like an oaf - Sorry, Master. Was I gone for long?"  
"Only a few seconds. Is everything alright?" Qui-Gon asked with solicitude.  
Obi-Wan nodded. "I think we just figured out something new about the link." he said.  
"New how?" Qui-Gon inquired, frowning.  
"It appears that if we both concentrate hard enough on the link, it strengthens significantly. - Obi-Wan replied tentatively - I think I saw the room where he is staying." he added, shaking his head in disbelief. Did Maul see the room where he was now as well, he wondered.  
"You appear to be very attuned to one another." Qui-Gon commented, sounding none too enthusiastic about it.  
"We've been like this for more than a week. We're getting used to each other." Obi-Wan minimised.  
"You care for him." Qui-Gon asserted.  
"I do. - Obi-Wan admitted without the least remorse - No one else has ever before."  
"Yoda said he was trained in the Dark Side from infancy." Qui-Gon commented.  
"Trained is a big word. - Obi-Wan replied with a grimace of disgust - More like abused and tortured in any imaginable way. It's no wonder he has nightmares. It is actually surprising he's not totally batshit insane and fully sociopathic." he said, shaking his head.  
"He didn't seem like the poster boy for mental sanity, from what I recall." Qui-Gon objected.  
"He's a bit of a fighting nut. - Obi-Wan admitted - I promised him we'll have a rematch, when he's back on his feet." he added fondly, almost in spite of himself.  
"He is still very ill, isn't he?" Qui-Gon asked quietly.  
"He... We still don't know if he'll make it. - Obi-Wan admitted, hanging his head in defeat - Whatever infection he caught is resistant to the antibiotics we are giving him, if it is even a bacterium and not a mold. And his shields are still down and... I've never heard of an infection causing these symptoms and neither has Doc." he confessed, dimming the link so that his anxiety and confusion would not affect Maul.  
"Don't lose hope, young one. - Qui-Gon encouraged him - Your prisoner seems like a fighter, and you are helping him as much as you can. I'm sure the Force will not take him away so soon after putting him on your path." he declared.  
"Our path." Obi-Wan corrected him.  
"I am afraid I am accessory to your crossed destinies, young one. - Qui-Gon objected with a weak smile - My role is now to get out of this bed as soon as possible and train Anakin."  
"I am sure that he will become a great Jedi under your guidance." Obi-Wan said politely.  
"And yours. - Qui-Gon added - Anakin is not coming back to the Temple with me, Obi-Wan. He is staying here until you stay." he announced.  
Obi-Wan looked at his Master in confusion. "But Grand Master Yoda..." he started to object.  
Qui-Gon didn't let him finish. "I know what he said, but he barely remembers how it was to be a child. Children can be cruel, even those grown up in the Temple, as you know well. - he said - Anakin will be a late-comer, a privileged intruder with a guaranteed place as a Padawan."  
Obi-Wan sighed. "Some of the initiates will give him hell for that." Obi-Wan agreed.  
"Yes. And Anakin doesn't know how to cope with that. - Qui-Gon continued - Back home, he had his mother to support him and give him strength, but at the Temple he will be alone and isolated. He will be frustrated and possibly afraid and I won't be able to give him my undivided attention for months to come. Here he will have you."  
"Me?!" Obi-Wan repeated.  
"Yes, you. - Qui-Gon confirmed - I know you have a lot on your plate already, and I wouldn't ask you more, if I had an alternative, but you could prepare him for his new life at the Temple, bring him up to speed on the training he has missed in these years."

Obi-Wan felt a wave of panic and disorientation roll him under. He barely knew what he was doing, now that he was _only_ responsible for Maul's welfare. He was playing it by ear, relying on luck and instinct as much as on reason to make his choices, and now he would have to take responsibility for _another_ person. He wasn't even a knight yet, and he was definitely not ready or qualified to train a child!  
And yet, even as he thought about all the reasons why it was totally a bad idea, he recognised the wisdom of Qui-Gon's insight.  
He knew how it felt to be the odd one out in a group of children, to be made into the butt of all jokes and to be bullied. He didn't wish Anakin to experience it for himself, if he could help.

"I can try, Master. - Obi-Wan replied, taking a deep breath - I suppose I can only do my best and hope it is enough." he added, straightening and trying to stem the panic.  
"You are having a hard time now, I know, but you'll see it will be worth it in the end." Qui-Gon reassured him.  
"If I even survive the stress..." Obi-Wan half-joked.  
"You are stronger and wiser than you believe, young one. - Qui-Gon said with evident affection - I think this adventure has clearly demonstrated it, if indeed there was any need."  
Obi-Wan was overcome for a moment by the impulse to hug his Master and controlled himself only with great difficulty, and only because of medical reasons. He didn't usually need such validations, but he couldn't deny the pride and the satisfaction blossoming in his heart.  
"Master, I..." he started to say, intending to limit himself to a formal thank you, but the flow of feelings he had kept bottled up since the day of the fight suddenly found its way out, spilling from his lips in a torrent of words.  
"I don't know how to say this, I'm not even sure I am supposed to feel this... but I love you as if you were my father. - Obi-Wan confessed, feeling close to tears - I know we haven't always agreed on everything and that we have exasperated each other a lot, but... Now I realise how lucky and privileged I am to have your guidance and affection. When I thought you dead... I felt empty inside. I missed you so much..." he added. His voice broke and a tear or two stained his face. He must have looked and sounded like a fool, but he felt a lot better now that he had said what he had always meant to say, and had nearly been forever prevented to tell him. His Master had to know, whatever he might think of it.

"Obi-Wan... Come here, child..." Qui-Gon entreated softly, making a small beckoning gesture with one hand.  
Obi-Wan sank to his knees at the side of the bed and held his Master's hand gently, afraid to hurt him somehow.  
"I saw you fall... and then they told me that they had not found you... - Qui-Gon said softly - I thought you had died... and though I know that we will all be one in the Force, one day, I wept. You are like a son to me, young one. Never forget this." he declared, sounding close to tears himself.  
Obi-Wan burst into a sob and leaned his forehead onto his Master's hand. Qui-Gon curled his fingers and they grazed Obi-Wan's cheek in a caress. For some reason, that made him cry all the harder.  
"I love you, Master. I love you so much..." he sobbed.

It took him some minutes to calm down, but when it finally happened and he rose to his feet he felt a lot more calm and balanced, as if he had managed to recenter himself.  
"Sorry about this..." he whispered, not feeling very sorry at all.  
"I think we both needed it." Qui-Gon said. His face was also stained by tears, but he looked serene now, still tired, but inexplicably better than when Obi-Wan had come into the room. Maybe it was because there were no more things left unsaid between them, and they had both made peace with their feelings, accepting them.  
"I will come back to the Temple as soon as I can, Master." Obi-Wan promised.  
Qui-Gon smiled. "I am sure you will come when the time is right, not sooner, nor later - he said - I look forward to meeting young Maul in peace instead of in battle. He must be a remarkable person..."  
"As weird as it might sound, he admires you, Master." Obi-Wan chuckled.  
"He was a honourable opponent. I confess I was surprised. I didn't expect that from a Sith." Qui-Gon commented with a sigh.  
"He is odd. - Obi-Wan admitted - But I'll rather have an odd guy, who is still capable of feeling, than a perfectly ordinary, but heartless sociopath like his Master." he added, grimacing at the thought.  
"You saw him?" Qui-Gon asked.  
"I did, but only in Maul's memories. - Obi-Wan replied, shaking his head in disappointment - Not clearly enough to identify the bastard, though." he added, clenching his fists in anger. Every time he even just thought about that individual, he couldn't help but feel his hackles rise. He had crossed paths with quite a few loathsome beings, but the old Sith took the poison-laced shitcake.  
He had never felt something so strongly before, and that made him wonder whether he might not be borrowing some subconscious resentment from Maul.

"Calm down, young one! - Qui-Gon instructed with alarm - Don't let yourself be unbalanced by your anger!"  
"Oh, no, I don't want to fall to the Dark Side if there is a bastard like him there. - Obi-Wan retorted heatedly - But I cannot pretend I don't loathe him. You haven't seen what he has done, Master. I have. I was there, in a way. I was beside Maul as it happened. No child should go through _that."_  
"Oh, my dear boy..." Qui-Gon whispered.  
"And you know what's worse? - Obi-Wan continued - Part of him thought and probably still thinks that it is perfectly normal, that he deserved to be beaten and tortured and abused... That it was his fault for not being good enough..."  
"Part of him must have realised that it wasn't right or normal, otherwise he wouldn't have accepted your help, don't you think? - Qui-Gon tried to reassure him - You have to believe in him. You have to believe that he will find a way of breaking the cycle of oppression." he said.  
"I do, Master. - Obi-Wan replied - I am sorry I offloaded this on you. I guess I needed some sort of sanity check. I mean, Doc said more or less the same to me, but sometimes it seems such a huge endeavor..." he trailed off wearily.  
"If he trusts you enough to let you in his mind, you have good reason to hope, young one." Qui-Gon remarked.  
Obi-Wan nodded, breathing more easily. He was a bit tired about this emotional rollercoaster, but he had the feeling that if he kept his feelings bottled up, it would be even worse.  
"Thank you for your advice, Master. Your support means everything to me." Obi-Wan said, holding his Master's hand again.  
Qui-Gon smiled and weakly squeezed his hand. "I will always be here for you, young one. I might not be able to give you any practical help for a while, but I will always be happy to advise you." he declared.  
"And I will always be ready to listen to you." Obi-Wan replied, squeezing back just enough that his Master could feel it.  
"Then listen to one more piece of advice now. - Qui-Gon instructed - Don't worry too much about me, alright? I'll be fine at the Temple. Concentrate on your charge. Go back to him and stay at his side. He needs your support more than anyone else does at the moment. Just give some advice to Anakin when you can, will you?" he asked.  
"Of course, Master!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, nodding vigorously.  
"He is outside the door, isn't he? I can feel his presence in the Force. - Qui-Gon commented - Would you mind sending him in, so I can explain him why I want him to stay behind?" he added.  
"Not at all Master. - Obi-Wan replied - I'll be on my way. Have a nice trip back to Coruscant."  
"I'll try." Qui-Gon laughed, then became serious again.  
"Obi-Wan! - he called out when the Padawan was already on the threshold - Be careful, alright? I don't know if there are really more agents of the Sith Master here on Naboo, but... just stay alert. He might want to get rid of loose ends, if you catch my drift."  
Obi-Wan stilled with the hand on the doorknob and turned back.  
"I won't let him. I swear it on the Code." he declared, feeling that inassailable determination to fight to the end fill his soul again, like it had in the tunnels when he had taken the decision to save Maul, no matter what.  
"Good luck, my son." Qui-Gon said.  
"Goodbye, Master." Obi-Wan replied, then turned back to the door and stepped out.

When Obi-Wan stepped into the waiting area, Anakin was still sitting on the bench where he had left him, swinging his legs back and forth as he read a Royal Naboo Fleet tactical manual some pilot had lent him, but he wasn't so engrossed in his reading as not to notice his arrival.  
"Is he alright?" the boy asked, switching off the datapad and jumping to his feet.  
"He is as well as it can be expected, given the circumstances. - Obi-Wan replied, ruffling the boy's sandy hair in a brotherly caress - He wants to see you." he added.  
"Oh, really?!" Anakin exclaimed, quite excited.  
"Yes, really. - Obi-Wan confirmed - But try not to tire him too much, alright?"  
Anakin nodded solemnly. " I'll be very, very quiet. - he promised - I'm so glad that he is going to be well, eventually..."  
"Me too, kiddo. Me too. - Obi-Wan agreed - I have to go now, my shift restarts in half an hour. Are you free after dinner tonight?" he asked.  
Anakin thought about it for a moment then shook his head. "Sorry, Obi-Wan. The fast deployment drill is tonight. - he replied - Can you imagine how cool it will be?" he added, nearly bouncing on his feet for the excitation.  
Obi-Wan couldn't help but smile. "You're taking this work placement very seriously." he commented.  
Anakin nodded. "I like flying. It's a pity I'll have to leave tomorrow for the Temple. - he said wistfully - But I suppose that training for Jedi will be even cooler, won't it?" he asked with a broad smile, switching back to excitement.  
"It's the coolest thing ever. - Obi-Wan confirmed, returning the smile - I think Master Qui-Gon has a new plan to help you make the most of your training opportunities. Why don't you go to him and see if you like it?" he proposed, finding a way to give a positive spin to the change of plans.  
"A plan?" Anakin asked.  
Obi-Wan nodded. "We care about your future, kiddo." he declared.  
Anakin burst into motion and hugged him tightly around the middle, nearly cutting his breath. "Thank you so much Obi-Wan! - he exclaimed - Watto never gave a... uh... he didn't care about my education." he said, hastily correcting himself on the verge of swearing.  
"If it wasn't for my mum, I wouldn't even know how to read or write." he added, shaking his shaggy head.  
"Shall I be offended that you compared me to that greedy _sleemo_?" Obi-Wan teased him, crossing his arms over his chest.  
Anakin laughed. "Where did you learn that? It's a Huttese swearword!"  
"When you are a Jedi, you often get sworn at in several languages. - Obi-Wan explained with a shrug - You end up learning a lot of curses."  
Anakin's eyes widened in interest. He took a breath to speak, but Obi-Wan didn't even let him utter a sound.  
"No, I'm not teaching them to you. - he cut in sternly - You should go to Master Qui-Gon now. It's rude to let people wait." he added.  
Anakin sighed in disappointment. "It was worth a try. - he commented - I'm going, now. Will I see you tomorrow at breakfast?" he asked, placing the reading pad in the pouch at his belt and approaching the door.  
"Sure thing, kiddo. - Obi-Wan replied - May the Force be with you in your drill." he added.  
"And with you in your shift!" Anakin replied without missing a beat, then slipped into Master Qui-Gon's room.  
I'll probably need it... Obi-Wan thought, walking down the corridor towards the isolation ward.

When he returned to Maul's room, Doc was nowhere to be seen. She must have already gone to the meeting the head surgeons held at the beginning of every shift, Obi-Wan mused. The book she had pinched from him was still on the chair at Maul's bedside, open down the middle. She had left his bookmark in place, at least, Obi-Wan noticed with relief. It felt strange to handle a hard copy of a book, instead of reading on a pad, but some of the hospital's most advanced equipment was very sensitive to electronic interferences, so the hospital held hard copies of reference books for personnel to peruse between shifts and even some narrative for patients stuck with waiting for exams.

Obi-Wan quickly checked the readings on the various monitors, finding that they were not more alarming than when he had last checked them about an hour before. Maul's temperature was still too high, the inflammation markers were still too high as well, and his shields were still defective.  
Obi-Wan sighed and gently brushed Maul's hand with his own. Sometimes abuse survivors were unable to tolerate someone else's touch, but he seemed to enjoy it, and often initiated it when he was conscious enough. Obi-Wan had chosen to take it as a good sign, and always made sure not to make the least gesture that could be interpreted as rejection. Maul needed to know that he could always trust him and count on his support.

As usual, Maul stirred at the contact, trying to propel himself out of the quagmire of semi-consciousness. His eyelids trembled for a moment before his eyes opened and his rather unfocused gaze locked on him.  
"Little Padawan..." he managed to whisper, slurring slightly because of the drugs. His hand grabbed Obi-Wan's almost instinctively.  
"Hey! Good morning, my nemesis... - the Padawan greeted affectionately - How are you feeling?"  
Maul closed his eyes again without replying. Obi-Wan thought that he had lost consciousness again, so he was very surprised when the link suddenly strengthened and a thin tendril of Force flicked through his thoughts, probing them like the tongue of a snake, only to suddenly retreat.  
"How can you not hate me, Obi-Wan?" Maul asked, grabbing the Jedi by the front of his robes and pulling him closer.  
"Why should I hate you?" Obi-Wan replied, holding his soul-searching gaze with his own.  
Maul closed his eyes again and took a deep breath before answering.  
"I dreamed about your Master... He was alive and he said that he loved you... - he revealed and his voice broke as he spoke - He said you were the son he never had... and you were so happy... and I took all of this from you..." he continued, nearly shaking with emotion.  
"You didn't. - Obi-Wan retorted - Master Qui-Gon is not dead. He is alive and he is here in Theed. It was not a dream. You saw him through me." he revealed, mentally berating himself. He should have told him earlier, but there had never seemed to be a good moment to do so.  
Maul looked at him in confusion, but his death grip on the Jedi's clothes relaxed a fraction.  
"Is _this_ a dream then? One where things fix themselves? - he asked desperately - I... I wish it was true. I wish..." he trailed off, shaking his head.  
"This is not a dream either. - Obi-Wan replied softly - I am here, and it is the truth. Here, see it for yourself... Let me show you." he entreated. Leveraging himself on the link between them, he gently drew Maul's Force into his own, guiding him to memories of his meeting with Qui-Gon as if he was leading him by hand.  
"It is true then... Thank the Force..." Maul exhaled, slowly and almost wearily retreating from Obi-Wan's mind, and letting go of his clothes. Instead of straightening and increasing the distance between them, the Padawan knelt next to the bed, so that he was still as close to his charge as before.  
"It's alright. You are both going to be fine." he reassured, brushing his fingers against Maul's cheek.

"He is not coming for me..." Maul whispered after a moment of silence, sleepily but still wistfully. There was no need to specify who _he_ was. For a moment, the memory of the Sith Master hung in the air between them, making it feel colder and darker.  
For a long moment, the only sounds in the room were the faint beeps of the monitors and the rustling of the trees in the wind, outside the window.  
"No, I am afraid he is not..." Obi-Wan said softly.  
"I should have known... - Maul admitted, nodding minutely - But it was so tempting to hope..." he added, turning his face away from Obi-Wan.  
"I am nothing... - he rasped - I never mattered to him."  
He sounded broken and defeated and Obi-Wan could not stand to see him like that. It was wrong on a fundamental level in a way that he couldn't really describe.  
"You are not nothing. You are my nemesis. You matter to me." the Padawan said, gently but with certainty.  
"You... - Maul whispered, turning back towards him - Only a week, and you care about me more than my Master has done in nearly twenty years..." he commented raising his hand to Obi-Wan's face and reciprocating his tentative caress.  
Obi-Wan smiled even as he felt his heart twinge with pity.  
Maul managed to smile back, then his hand dropped to the bed and he fell silent again, slipping back into unconsciousness almost immediately. Obi-Wan remained at his side, waiting patiently, and eventually Maul resurfaced once more.  
"It is too good... It does not make sense..." he said, looking at Obi-Wan with desperation.  
The Padawan didn't really know how to reply to that.  
"Why does it have to make sense? Sometimes things just are." he said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile.  
Maul shook his head wearily. "At times I fear that none of this is real... - he confessed - That I am still down there in the dark... alone... That you... this... all of this... its is nothing but a dream I am dreaming to stay sane." he added, raising his hand towards Obi-Wan once more.  
"This is real. - Obi-Wan retorted, taking Maul's hand in his - I swear to you."  
Maul shook his head again. "It can't be. Real life is not like this. It never was." he retorted, sounding heartbroken but resigned to the harsh reality of life as he knew it.  
"But it can be. You know it can. - Obi-Wan said, forcing himself not to cry - And I know you want it to be." he added, hopeful.  
Maul nodded. "More than anything else I've ever wanted." he admitted, gripping Obi-Wan's hand tighter.  
"Then let it be true. Fight for it. - Obi-Wan encouraged him - There are so many good things in life... When you see them, you'll realise that this is nothing compared to what real life should be." he promised.  
"This is not nothing. You are not nothing. - Maul objected, frowning - You are real... You are important." he added, and a trickle of panic started to filter through the link. Maul held to Obi-Wan's hand so hard that the Padawan started to think it would bruise. He could imagine why his charge had suddenly started to panic.  
"I am going to stay with you for as long as you need. - he reassured - Even when you are back on your feet, if so you should wish. I won't abandon you, and this is a promise." he added solemnly, looking into Maul's unfocused red-gold eyes.  
Maul sighed and relaxed visibly, releasing his death-grip on the Jedi's hand.  
"Even though I think that at that point you'll have found much more interesting people to hang out with..." Obi-Wan added, trying to lighten up the mood.  
"No. - Maul said with certainty - You will still be important... Always." he added softly as he slipped back into a sort of light, troubled sleep.

Even if he knew he shouldn't put too much stock in what people said during a fever-and-drug-induced delirium, Obi-Wan couldn't help but feel his heart warm at those words. They sounded sincere, and they felt sincere. In spite of what Master Windu said, Obi-Wan had always been sure that Maul wasn't using him, and every time he received new proof of it. The remorse, the need for reassurance, the affection that the Jedi felt coming from his charge were real, and were something a Darksider was not supposed to be able to feel.  
"Same here. - Obi-Wan confirmed quietly, though Maul couldn't hear him - Same here, my nemesis..." he whispered, brushing his free hand against his face.  
Maul relaxed further and Obi-Wan could feel him shift towards a deeper sort of sleep. He knew that true, dreamless sleep would elude him until Obi-Wan went to sleep as well, but the more he managed to rest, whatever the way, the better, so he repeated the caress, over and over, interrupting himself only to shift the chair closer with the Force and sit down to spare his knees. The position was still quite uncomfortable, but he didn't really care at the moment. Soon a small smile appeared on the Zabrak's patterned visage and Obi-Wan knew that it was worth all the back-ache in the world.

When Doc arrived from the surgeons' meeting, Obi-Wan's back had won the fight with his best intentions, and he had fallen back to reading his book while running his fingers up and down Maul's hand and forearm. He appeared to like the new arrangement well enough and was relatively calm. Every now and then, Obi-Wan caught glimpses of whatever he was dreaming, which for the moment consisted of a mix of geometric shapes interspersed with weird mathematical formulas that made no sense at all. It was odd and not very relaxing, but it was better than more torture.  
Doc approached the bed padding silently as only a Temple-trained person could manage, and smiled at Obi-Wan.  
"How is he doing?" she whispered.  
"Reasonably well. No more crises so far." the Padawan replied cheerfully.  
Doc nodded. "But his shields are still down." she added.  
Obi-Wan nodded. "He is trying to get them back under control, but they are too fragile." he explained.  
"The results from the microbiology lab have arrived. - Doc announced - We might have an explanation."  
Obi-Wan's interest was immediately piqued. "Did they identify the pathogen?" he asked immediately.  
Doc nodded and loaded up a file on the bedside terminal. A micrograph appeared, showing a strange, bulbous and hairy micro-organism, then Doc activated a control and a series of data were superimposed on it. Obi-Wan scanned it eagerly, but even after he had finished he was still none the wiser.  
"It's a quite rare and nasty bugger. - Doc explained - It does not come up in the usual genetic screens. The people in the lab identified it from a culture and I can tell you that they were none too happy about it." she commented.  
"That bad?" Obi-Wan asked, very alarmed.  
"It would have required a higher containment level than what they used, so they are understandably worried, but it shouldn't be too dangerous to healthy people. - Doc replied - It's a serious threat to weakened or wounded people, though, and it's not very well studied." she added, shaking her head.  
This did nothing to allay Obi-Wan's fears.  
"Is there something we can do? A treatment? Anything?" he asked, trying to keep calm for Maul's sake even if he felt like he should start shaking out of sheer worry.  
"There is, my lad, don't you fret. - she replied - I'm friends with the researcher who has synthesized a specific drug for our little bugger, and she has agreed to send us enough material for a full cycle of treatment. That stuff is so new that it is not available on the market yet." she revealed.  
"Does it work?" Obi-Wan inquired, feeling hopeful but still doubtful.  
"It does on mice and rabbits. - Doc said, shrugging - The bugger is rare enough that they don't have enough sentient patients to present a full case to the Galactic Drug Agency. And I suppose they don't really care about this drug at the GDA, anyway." she lamented.  
"And why?" Obi-Wan asked, thinking that it didn't make much sense.  
Doc shrugged. "This pathogen is unknown on the rich Core Worlds. It's a problem only in the Rim, and they can't care less because there is hardly any money in it." she replied.  
Obi-Wan stared at her with disbelief, hoping that by doing so he could somehow force her to say that it was just a joke, but he had dealt with central Galactic Government bodies enough in the last few years to recognise the truth in her words.  
"This is the most short-sighted and egotistic policy I have ever heard of!" he protested, indignant.  
Doc nodded. "I know. But let's thank the Force for our good fortune, my lad. Without my friend's drug, your buddy would be in a very tight spot. - she said - It is going to arrive tomorrow at the latest and you'll see that he will be fine quite soon." she added almost immediately, recognising Obi-Wan's alarm.  
"Thank the Force, indeed. - Obi-Wan agreed with palpable relief - It was very generous of your friend to give us the treatment for free."  
Dic waved a hand in the air. "She is not in it for money, like most of the people in experimental medicine. - she minimised - She only asked to be able to use the data from this case. It will be anonimised, anyway."  
Obi-Wan acquiesced. "I'll ask Maul if he consents next time he is awake, but I doubt he will object. - he said - Is this pathogen what is causing his shields to collapse?" he asked with a hint of skepticism. He was not an expert healer but it sounded slightly preposterous.  
"Could be. This thing produces a toxin which causes delirium and hallucinations in non-Forceful people. - she explained - No one really knows what the effects would be on a Forceful. I think your buddy is the first confirmed case."  
"Lucky him, eh? Obi-Wan commented.  
"Oh, don't be so glum, my lad! - Doc chided - There are worse things that could have happened to him. Ten days of treatment, two weeks at the worst, and the bugger should be gone. Then it should be only a matter of waiting for the effects of the toxin to wear off." she illustrated.  
"So he is safe now." Obi-Wan said, casting a quick glance at Maul.  
Doc hesitated a moment. "Eh, I would wait to declare the crisis solved until we see how well he responds to the new treatment, - she cautioned - but if he had 50% chances before, I'd say now he has at least 80% or even 90%." she added, and, knowing how cautious and ready for the worst she was, Obi-Wan felt quite hopeful and reassured.  
"I don't know how to thank you, Doc. You have been amazing!" he exclaimed.  
Doc smiled and blushed. "Just doing my job here. - she minimised with a shrug - If you really want to thank you, make sure that this poor lad is safe from that bastard, alright? I'm sure he deserves better." she declared, laying her hand on Maul's brow with a gentle, sad expression.  
"I will, Doc. You have my word." Obi-Wan promised.  
"Good. - Doc approved, withdrawing her hand and turning towards the Padawan with a determined expression - And now, to work, my lad. The A&E is chock-full of multiple trauma patients, and we have also a few other sundries to deal with this shift."  
"Let me guess, speeder race accident?" Obi-Wan hypothesised with a grimace.  
"The Theed Tourist Classic. - she confirmed - Someone lost control of his speeder in the middle of the followers group. It was a bloody mess." she explained.  
"Oh joy! - Obi-Wan exclaimed, reluctantly breaking physical comtact with Maul and getting to his feet - A bunch of crumpled adrenalin-junkies... Just what we needed for a relaxing shift." he added, stretching and yawning.  
Doc laughed. "Every day in the ward is a day less in Hell, my lad, that's the motto." she commented.  
Obi-Wan laughed as well. "We wouldn't have it any other way." he said and with a last glance at his charge, went to his duty.


	6. Out of the Woods

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Star Wars characters. I do own the OCs, though. I do not make a £ from this.**

Warning: a bit of bad language.

Flame all you want, I'm fireproof.

* * *

Obi-Wan was dreaming of red skies bathed in perpetual twilight, of tall red grass and children laughing.  
His brother Owen had turned five and had received a shiny new Mandalorean bolo ball for his life-day. All the boys from the neighbourhood had come out to play.  
He was the youngest and the older boys could run circles around him, except that he knew where the ball would go, he knew it before it did, and when his taller and stronger brother kicked it towards the improvised goal, he was there to intercept it and kick it in the back of the pretend-net. His team cheered, and Owen hugged him and lifted him up, and when he turned his head he glimpsed a smile on their mother's face. Even if she pretended she was working and not paying attention, she had seen him score and she was proud of him. In that moment, he was perfectly happy and peaceful, and as the dream faded, it left a bittersweet taste in his mouth.

"Wake up, my lad! - someone female exclaimed, shaking him gently by a shoulder - I think that this time he is waking up for real!" she added with excitement.

Obi-Wan tried to open his bleary eyes and his shields snapped back in place by reflex as the last remnants of the shared dream faded away. Ever since he had tried sleeping with his shields down to keep the link between him and Maul open at all times, his dreams had become incredibly complicated and vivid constructions that came from the meeting of both their imaginations and yet made a strange sort of sense. It was absolutely weird, but also incredibly exhilarating to be so deeply in syntony with someone as to nearly forget where the boundaries between them were.

It was also quite weird that the only person he had truly managed to meet in the middle with was a semi-conscious Darksider who might decide to be totally furious with him as soon as he realised what had been going on. Up until now Maul had been fine with mind-linking with him and receiving support, but he might get angry anyway for what he might see as a weakness, now that he was better.

Since the intruder didn't sound like she was stopping anytime soon, Obi-Wan put his musings aside and tried to focus his gaze.

It was Doc, and she looked quite aflutter.  
"What's up?" he slurred sleepily.

"It's Maul. The EEG readings are back to normal. I think he's back to full consciousness!" she replied with a certain urgency.

Her words snapped him out of his dazed state in an instant. Suddenly awake, he hopped off the bed and slipped his boots and tunic on.

"Come on!" she urged.

Obi-Wan entered the main room of the ward and returned to his usual position next to the bed. On his chair, the book on Mandalorean children-soldiers he had been reading the day before was still open where he had left it.

Maul's lids were kind of twitching and he was moving with more purpose than usual. Obi-Wan lowered his shields again and waited.

Red-ringed yellow eyes opened suddenly and a confused expression appeared on the Zabrak's face. Eyes and Force both darted around, searching and homed in on him. Maul's Force-presence briefly wrapped around his and then retreated, remaining near but not quite touching.

"Little Padawan..." Maul rasped, smiling a little.

"My nemesis... Glad to see you back among the living..." Obi-Wan replied, with a mock-bow and a warm smile.

"How long...? How long was I out of commission?" Maul asked.

"It is nearly three weeks since we got out of the tunnels. A few days since the fever broke." Obi-Wan said.

Time enough for the Jedi Elders to start worrying and to send Kit Fisto to watch over the two of them, even if his nominal role was to help train Qui-Gon had contrived for the kid to remain on Naboo and under his tutelage thanks to an agreement with the Royal Naboo Fleet Engineers. They had put together some bogus spaceship engineering apprenticeship scheme to enrol the kid in, and Obi-Wan had been training him in the Jedi arts in whatever little spare time he had. He was coming along quite well, but so far Fisto had barely looked Anakin's way twice, whereas he had spent a lot of time pretending to chat casually with him.  
Obi-Wan had a hunch that his real task was to check whether he was falling to the Dark Side, and, in case to neutralise both him and Maul, but so far all his attempts to catch him at doing something evil had been quite obviously unfruitful.

"So long... It felt like yesterday, or a lifetime ago. Like a long, long dream.- Maul said in a quiet faraway voice - And you are not a knight yet."

Obi-Wan shook his still-braided head. "There were some complications."

"You were here all the time." Maul said. Even if it was clearly not a question, Obi-Wan acquiesced nonetheless.

"I remember talking to you... But most of all, I could always feel you here... - the Sith declared, feebly raising a hand towards his brow - You felt like sunshine and laughter." he added dreamily.

Obi-Wan did not know how to reply to that and limited himself to a smile.

"I'm still totally high, am I not? There's no rainbows when things move and you're not talking in slow-motion, right?" Maul asked a moment later, slowly waving his hand back and forth and staring at it in confusion.

"You are still being administered a high dose of painkillers." Doc chimed in.

Maul turned his head towards the new voice and cringed. "Shouldn't have done that..." he rasped, squeezing his eyes shut. Obi-Wan had to stamp really hard on his sudden impulse to help. He didn't want to be too intrusive and humiliate him.

"It's OK, a bit of dizziness is an expected side-effect." Doc explained.

"Should have told me earlier. - he protested - I want them off." he declared, belligerent

"And I want a million credits on my bank account. - Doc replied, undaunted - If I take them off all at once, you'll be in quite a lot of pain. Because of the infection, your wounds are not fully mended yet."

"Don't care. I can deal with it." Maul retorted stubbornly.

"You sound like a brat when you behave like this, you know?" Doc provoked, trying to shame him into submission, but Obi-Wan had learned enough about medical ethics to know that if he insisted, she would have no other option but to comply. And insist Maul would, if only to prove that he was not weak and helpless. He needed a measure of control upon his situation, even if he had to be in pain for it.

"Maybe you could lower the dose enough to make the pain manageable but to get rid of the worst of the side-effects? - he proposed soothingly - Would that be alright for you?" he asked, turning towards his charge. Maul hesitated just a moment, just to prove that he could, before nodding slowly. Obi-Wan knew that even if he was used to endure pain and discomfort, he was nowhere near a masochist.  
"That would be acceptable. I can't even think now. I only feel like sleeping." he declared finally.

Obi-Wan smiled at him. "You need to rest if you want to get back to full health." he said.

Maul rolled his eyes. "Behold the ever-compassionate Jedi..." he lamented.

"Oh, no. My concern is entirely selfish, my dear nemesis. - he replied - If you don't recover completely, our rematch won't be fair, and then how will I know if I can defeat you without taking a dip?" he asked.

"You can't. Next time it will be you lying in a hospital bed with tubes you don't want to know where." Maul retorted smugly.

"Too much information!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, cringing in sympathy.

"Oh, quit whinging! It's only temporary, you'll make a full recovery. - Doc said sternly - I even made sure the tattoos matched on both sides when I stitched you up." she added.

Maul blinked repeatedly, considering her with slight concern. "Thanks..." he said, looking a bit cowed. "It's a bit creepy, but very thoughtful of you, madam." he added.

Obi-Wan couldn't help but giggle a little at the absurdity of the situation.

"You are welcome. You are an educated villain, at least..." Doc commented.

At her words, Maul cracked up laughing.

"What's so funny?" Doc asked. That only made him laugh more.

"Sorry... - he panted, trying to regain his breath and control - It is all so surreal... this conversation. I'm only imagining it because I'm off my rocker, isn't it?" he asked, rather wistfully.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not a figment of your imagination, my lad." Doc declared dryly.

"That would be exactly what you would say if you were." Maul retorted.

"Sorry, but I skipped philosophy classes when they explained ontology. - she said - I can pinch you, if it helps."

"I'd hardly feel it, I'm sure. I'm so full of... whatever that might be... that my body feels like jelly." he protested.

Obi-Wan just watched them interact with an odd fondness growing in his heart. It was comforting to know that Maul could interact almost normally with people, even if he was clearly disoriented and out of his depth. A tattooed hand slid over the coverlet and gently brushed against his. The contact lasted barely a moment, but Maul clearly needed it to reassure himself of the reality of what was going on.

"Alright, I'll assume you are real. Even stoned, I would not spend so much time being sarcastic to myself. - the Zabrak conceded - That would be weirder than the floating pink banthas." he added with a small smile.  
Doc looked at him in perplexity for what must have sounded like a complete non sequitur, but Obi-Wan smiled back, recalling one of the dreams they had shared in the last three weeks.  
Did that mean that he was fine with what had happened between them while he was semi-conscious? That sounded bad even in his own mind, he reflected, cringing inwardly.

"That was really weird. - he commented, testing the boundaries - I should have figured out it was you."

"You're a Jedi. Even your dreams are repressed and boring." Maul retorted, smirking.

"I'd call them peaceful." Obi-Wan said, with a hint of laughter in his voice.  
By the Force! He had already grown to like bantering with him more than should be appropriate.

"Too much peace is overrated. You need passion to make life worth living." Maul replied, quirking an eyebrow.  
"Woah!" Obi-Wan thought, feeling a sudden heat rise up to his face. That sounded awfully like a pick-up line even from his limited experience in the field.  
He exchanged a glance with his charge. Even he looked very embarassed, as if he had realised only afterwards what he had said. Obi-Wan winked and extended a tendril of Force to brush against Maul's shields, as if to pat him on the back and tell him it was OK.

Doc coughed dryly a couple of times. "Sorry, it's the clima-conditioner. It dries my throat up something awful." she aplogised unbidden.

"'S alright." Maul said starting to slur again and clearly struggling to keep his eyes open. Evidently that irritated him quite profoundly. The Zabrak pounded his fist weakly against the sheets, grimacing and shaking his head, as if to clear it.  
"Damned drugs!" he growled.

"You need to sleep to recover, my lad. Now be a dear and just do what your body is asking. - Doc chided - There is not much point in fighting against it."

Doc had a point, but Obi-Wan could only begin to imagine how hard it would be for Maul to just give in.

"I'm done with this. You'll lower the Force-damned dose of this thing, starting from now." he ordered, giving the doctor his best baleful stare.  
Doc did not seem impressed. She crossed her arms below her breasts and looked at him expectantly, an eyebrow quirked over a neutral expression.  
Obi-Wan hoped she was not going to wait for him to say please like she would do with an unruly kid. He would see asking that as a favour as something very close to begging, an ultimate weakness, and if she forced him to it, he would resent her deeply.

"Of course she will, won't you, Doc? - he intervened - Pretty please with sugar on top..." he added, giving her his best puppy eyes and winning smile.

Doc rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, yes. I'm on it. - she conceded, tapping quickly on a bedside touchscreen - Here you go, Mister Congeniality. I've halved the dose. You'll start feeling different in a couple of hours. Happy now?"

"Very. - Maul replied - You're clearly a highly commendable doctor." he added as an awkward, offhand way of saying thank you.

Doc shook her head again, earrings twinkling and glimmering in the light that came through the window. "You are impossible. Both of you." she declared, but she was smiling as she said that.

"Only... highly improbable..." Maul replied sleepily, shooting a glance at Obi-Wan. His hand brushed against the Jedi's once again, before he lost his fight with sleep and went out like a light.

"He's a weird one." Doc commented as they headed towards the canteen, having left Maul to his sleep.  
Obi-Wan's control of the contact and range of action had both improved significantly over the course of the previous three weeks, so that he had deemed safe leaving the hospital level in the quest for some breakfast and barely drinkable caf.

"Yes, he is." Obi-Wan replied, feeling that odd fondness filling him again.

"I think you're really cute together." she continued.

Obi-Wan was so shocked by her remark that he nearly tripped over his feet. "We are not together in any sense of the way.- he protested, nearly trembling in sheer anxiety - I'm just... I'm following the Council's orders." he added. He had made sure that they hardly had any option but give him that particular order, but this was something he didn't really want to advertise.

"Easy, my lad. I was just kidding. - Doc said, smiling wide - I know you're just being professional and dutiful. - she added not quite sarcastically, but almost - I was only saying that you'd be a cute couple. If both of you were gay and didn't hate each other, that is... Ah, nevermind. I'm just a dirty old lady." she concluded and they lapsed into silence for a while as they joined the breakfast queue.

"I don't hate him, it is not the Jedi way. And I don't think he has hated me for a while now." Obi-Wan said later, as they sat down at one of the big, white tables with their cafs and food trays.

Doc did not say anything, but looked at him encouragingly, as if expecting him to say more.  
Obi-Wan sighed. "He wanted to kill me at the beginning, in the tunnels. Now he just wants to send me to the hospital. " he clarified.

"Oh, that must amount nearly to a declaration of love, coming from him." Doc commented lightly, as she sipped her caf.  
Obi-Wan blushed, feeling enormously silly at having let the conversation veer that way.  
He should have kept his cool and let the topic drop, but Doc was alway a good listener and talking to her was easy and comforting, as if she was a kind but sarcstic aunt.  
He was growing fond of her as much as she had grown fond of him over the course of their partnership.

That was a mistake, part of him recognised it. The Jedi Code spelled that he should not yearn for attachment. Ties were enemy to the inner peace a Jedi sought, he told himself, but he could not explain why he felt more peaceful and content now that he had Anakin, Maul and even Doc to care and worry about, than he had ever felt before.

The Code was by definition right, wasn't it?

Obi-Wan decided not to think about it and concentrated on his food and on Doc's rants about how the quality of the caf was decreasing daily.  
Soon more doctors and nurses from their ward joined them at the table, and the conversation bounced back and forth between topics, from the results of the last bolo-ball match between Theed United and some Mandalorean team, to the funeral of banking tycoon Hego Damask, who had died of a stroke a few weeks prior.

"They took their time to bury the old bat!" one of the orthopedic surgeons commented.  
"They must have investigated first. Muun are notoriously suspicious." someone else commented.  
The conversation soon degenerated into a discussion of the future plans of the IGBC, then of the character of their new head of security, who was a non-human from some Wild Space frontier world and consequently was immediately deemed an uncivilised, trigger-happy thug.  
From there, the natural evolution of the conversation was a rant on how the non-human populations of the Outer Rim, with their uncontrolled growth and lower wage expectations, were threatening the welfare of the operous, human, Mid and Inner Rim communities.

Obi-Wan switched off from the conversation. He didn't like speciesists, and the guy who was talking at the moment wasn't new to spewing such bullshit. If he kept on listening he would only get irritated and there was hardly any point in having a row with him. It was not as if he could talk some sense in him, and knocking him around as he was sometimes tempted to do would hardly solve the problem either. The best policy would be to ignore him altogether. Sighing, he concentrated on his food and on the warm, peaceful feeling he felt through the mind-link. Nothing else mattered at the moment.

"We have company..." Doc whispered moments later, elbowing him discreetly. Obi-Wan blinked and raised his head, scanning the canteen for familiar faces.  
The tall, broad-shouldered figure of Master Kit Fisto towered on the rest of the people in the canteen. The Nautolan was approaching his table with a relaxed gait and his trademark confident smile, and sat down in front of Doc like he owned the place, effectively cutting them off the main conversation.  
"Good morning, Padawan Kenobi, good morning, Sadé." he greeted, barely glancing at him, but casting her a look that was quite heavy on subtext.  
Overall, Doc was the only person who was genuinely happy about Master Fisto's presence. The two of them had been at the Temple in the same years, and, while Doc was older, their difference in age was not so pronounced. Judging from what transpired from their interactions, they must have been close friends, if not more.

"Morning, Kit. - Doc replied with a smile - You look far too awake for this ungodly hour. Have you gone running in the park again?" she asked.  
The Nautolan nodded, head-tentacles rustling gently. "You know there are no parks on Coruscant, and the Temple lake is nice enough, but a natural one is better." he replied.  
"You've been swimming? - she asked, then laughed and shook her head - Oh, what a silly question!"  
Master Fisto smiled. "You can come with me one of these mornings, if you want. - he offered - I remember you swam like a proper fish, back in the day." he added.  
"I had a good teacher. - she retorted - But it has been ages..." she added.  
"It's not something you can really forget. - Master Fisto commented, then turned towards Obi-Wan and suddenly changed topic - So, Padawan Kenobi... You look over the moon this morning. What has happened? Has Sleeping Ugly finally woken up?" he asked.  
Obi-Wan immediately stiffened in outrage and was on the verge of delivering a scathing reply to the older Jedi, but Doc intervened, trying to defuse the situation.  
"Come on, Kit! You're being ungenerous with the lad! - she chided - He is quite an exotic-looking young man, but I think he is rather handsome." she declared.  
Master Fisto chuckled and shook his head.  
"Alright, I concede. - he said, lifting his hands in surrender - So, returning to my question, has the Sithling finally woken up?" he reformulated, but his tone was still unsympathetic and condescendent.  
"He has a name, Master." Obi-Wan objected, trying to be firm but calm.  
"Ah, right. Darth Smash or something like that..." the Nautolan commented.  
"It is Maul." Obi-Wan said, growing irritated by the minute. Depersonalising a perceived enemy was easy, but he wasn't going to let Master Fisto get away with that. He needed the other Jedi to see Maul as a person and not a generic Sith if he wanted to give his charge any chances of being accepted.  
"Heh! What did I say? Is that even his real name?" the Nautolan teased.  
"Says the man whose surname is Fisto..." Obi-Wan commented dryly.  
"So what?" the older Jedi retorted, now frowning.  
"So it sounds like the assumed name of a porn actor." the Padawan said bluntly, locking stares with him. Doc snorted and giggled in spite of herself.  
Master Fisto coloured a darker green and his head-tentacles wriggled ominously. "What sort of point are you trying to prove, Padawan Kenobi?" he asked, suddenly serious and unsmiling.  
"That those sort of jokes are fun only as long as you are not on the receiving end of them." Obi-Wan replied without missing a beat.  
"Oh yes, and we shouldn't hurt the poor Sithling's feelings, right?" Master Fisto provoked.  
"We shouldn't hurt anyone's feelings, if we can help. It's called empathy, and the Jedi teachings say it's a good thing, don't they?" Obi-Wan responded, feeling his hackles rise. He knew he shouldn't talk back like that to a Master. He had never even considered doing something like that before, and if Fisto was looking for reasons to think that there was something wrong with him, he didn't need to look any further.

"Do you know what, Kenobi? I don't care what his name might be, and I care even less about offending him. - Master Fisto declared - What I demand that you tell me is whether the prisoner is now fully conscious and capable of posing a threat." he added sternly.  
"A threat?! - Doc intervened, shaking her head - The poor lad has been more dead than alive for the last three weeks, and is confined to a bed! What sort of threat can he possibly pose?" she asked.  
"He is a Sith. They are a threat by definition." Master Fisto retorted.  
"I understand where you are coming from, Kit, but let's be serious. - Doc argued - It will be weeks before he can do anything more dangerous than saying naughty words or trying to pat a nurse's backside while they change his drip."  
"You don't understand, Sadé. - Master Fisto retorted - You have been away from the Temple for too long to see how things are." he added wistfully.  
"No, Kit. It is you who have been cooped up in there too long to realise that real life and real people are not black or white. You were not always so dogmatic." Doc retorted softly, shaking her head.  
"We were young, Sadé. They were more innocent times. - Master Fisto said - This is a war. I was sent here to keep you safe and I will do my duty, even though you don't like it, and even if I myself might not like it." he declared solemnly.  
"Purpose before feelings." Doc commented wistfully, looking at her hands, clenched on the tabletop.  
"That's how it should be." Master Fisto acquiesced.  
"That's precisely why I left, Kit." Doc whispered, giving him a long and intense look.  
"I wish you had not. I really do." the Nautolan lamented, leaving his seat and shaking his head. He gave Doc a last, wistful look and walked away without a word more.

Doc sighed and shook her head, still contemplating her hands, whispering something to herself.  
Obi-Wan laid a hand on her shoulder, signalling his willingness to comfort her, but she shook her head again.  
"I'm fine, my lad. Don't mind me. It's just... - she started, then paused to shake her head - Sometimes it is so frustrating to deal with Jedi. I wasn't expecting Kit to behave so... so narrow-mindedly."  
"He is only trying to protect everyone." Obi-Wan justified him, surprising even himself a bit.  
He was still irritated with the older Jedi about his tactless remarks, but he could see his point. Before getting to know Maul, he would also have assumed that a Sith would be automatically trying to manipulate people, or seduce them to the Dark Side, or stuff like that, and would have taken steps to ensure the safety of bystanders.  
"I know, but there is no need. - Doc retorted - I don't feel threatened by that poor lad. For now he has given me no reason to."  
"Yes, but Master Fisto does not know. He is reacting based on a Jedi's working assumptions." Obi-Wan explained.  
"You know that by assuming you make an ass of yourself, don't you? - Doc commented, still upset - He could just trust us on this, since he does not have the information, but no! He has to come and tell us how things are! The Galaxy would fall into utter chaos if a Padawan and a squib were right and a Master was wrong! It is always the same! I'll never graduate to a competent adult in their eyes!" she ranted.  
"I do trust your judgement, Doc. - Obi-Wan reassured her - Being strong in the Force is not an automatic guarantee of wisdom. I know that you know what you are doing." he added, squeezing her shoulder.  
"Thank you, my lad. - she said, taking a deep breath to calm down - Now I want you to go to Maul and stay with him. Take the whole day off and don't leave him for any reason." she instructed.  
"Alright Doc, but you really think it is necessary, I mean... he is fine-ish now." Obi-Wan objected.  
"It is, trust me. If Kit is convinced that Maul is a threat, and that he needs to protect us, he will try his best to do his duty. He might decide to post guards in Maul's room, or to put him in restraints, or to fit him with a Force-inhibitor..." she retorted.

"Hell, no!" Obi-Wan exclaimed.  
That would ruin all the progress that Maul had made since the beginning, and push him back into hating and despising Jedi. He was in flux, cut off from the certainties he had entertained about his Master and the Dark Side. He needed the Force to guide him, and a safe, peaceful environment to let the Light in him come to the surface unhampered, and show him that he could trust, care and be free.  
"Exactly... - Doc acquiesced gravely - I will go to my niece and try to bring her on our side. You stay there and protect him. Don't let Kit harm him in any way, even with the best intentions. Fight for him. Show him that you are on his side and buy us time." Doc entreated him.  
Obi-Wan nodded. "If you save even just one person, you will have saved the whole Galaxy..." he said, quoting an ancient proverb.  
"...Because you will have shown it that there is still hope." she completed.  
"I'll do my best, Doc." Obi-Wan promised.  
Doc smiled with that smile that made her look so like Amidala.  
"Then there is nothing to worry about. - she said with sincerity - Now run, my lad. Keep hope alive." she entreated.  
With one last nod, Obi-Wan got to his feet and dashed out of the canteen, careening through the corridors towards the isolation ward and scattering away anyone on his path.

The coast was still clear when he got there. He shut the door to the ward behind himself with relief and sat next to the bed again, trying to catch his breath.  
A red-gold eye opened a fraction then closed again.  
"Your mind feels in turmoil." Maul whispered.  
"Sorry about that. I didn't want to disturb you." Obi-Wan replied.  
"You never do. - Maul replied, now reasonably awake - I am just concerned about you. What has happened?"  
Obi-Wan shrugged. "It's Master Fisto." he started.  
"The tall Nautolan?" Maul asked.  
"Yes, him, but how do you know him?" Obi-Wan replied frowning.  
"He's known for being a good duelist." Maul said, looking slightly embarrassed.  
Obi-Wan shook his head, but found himself smiling nonetheless. "You are a tad obsessed, aren't you?" he commented.  
"Possibly. - Maul conceded - What did he do?"  
"Just his job. - Obi-Wan minimised -He is here to make sure you don't turn me Dark, but he is being a bit of a prick about it." he clarified then.  
"I would never do that. - Maul declared, horrified - Your Light... It has kept me alive and safe for so long... And it is so beautiful... There were never many beautiful things in my life, I can't contemplate destroying it." he said softly.  
Obi-Wan found himself unable to speak out of the knot that had formed in his throat. If he had had any doubts about the path he had chosen, this would have been reassurance enough.

"And now I've said the wrong thing, because I am a selfish bastard, haven't I?" Maul asked, pretending to joke, but unable to totally hide the worry underneath.  
Obi-Wan shook his head. "No. You have done nothing wrong. - he said soothingly - I am just a bit all over the place now."  
"You are tired. You have been looking after me for a long time and I don't suppose it was easy. - Maul said gently but firmly - You need to rest."  
Obi-Wan couldn't help but acquiesce. He had had a few hard weeks and had slept barely enough the previous night because of an emergency surgery on a man who had been ran over by a vehicle, and even though his dreams had been peaceful and relaxing, he was feeling wrecked. Maybe that was one of the reasons why he was so nervous and irritable.

"I am afraid you are right. - he conceded - Would it be alright with you if I slept here on the chair, instead of in the other room?" he asked.  
"Damn! That will foil my plans of watching pay-per view adults-only content on the HoloNet!" Maul said, looking dead serious, but only for a moment, before a wide boyish grin appeared on his face.  
"You are evil!" Obi-Wan laughed.  
"Comes with the job." Maul acquiesced, chuckling lightly.  
"So, is it OK?" the Padawan asked again.  
Maul nodded without hesitation. "I don't mind at all. I know you don't snore. - he replied - I would even lend you one side of the bed, but I can't really move enough to let you in. Too many cables." he added ruefully.

Obi-Wan was rendered speechless again by the proposition, and by the nonchalance with which it had been made.  
On one hand, he couldn't help but see such a display of trust as a progress, but, on the other, he had learned that abuse survivors tended to repeat abusive patterns. Maybe the Sith bastard had trained him to offer physical contact in exchange of protection or benevolence, and now Maul was proposing the same to him because he was afraid that he could turn on him, or abandon him, and if he accepted it, instead of sharing comfort and trust he would just be dishing more abuse.  
Maul didn't seem or feel disgusted or upset, or pressured by fear into making the proposal, though. If anything he felt slightly disappointed that it wouldn't really work.  
Maybe he really meant that he did not mind. Maybe he just liked closeness.  
It was complicated, and Obi-Wan was really glad that there was a practical impediment in the way and that he wouldn't have to choose.

"Don't worry, the armchair will be fine." he said finally, smiling and bringing his hand in close proximity of Maul's.  
The Zabrak promptly squeezed it for a moment, then let it go. "Try not to dream about Master Yoda in woman's clothes again, alright?" he warned.  
"Oh, you remember that?" Obi-Wan asked, quite surprised and embarrassed.  
"Yes, unfortunately. - Maul replied, grimacing in horror - I fear that if you show that... thing... to me again, I will never be able to see him again without laughing, or gagging, or possibly both. And I'm sure that would make him like me a lot..." he added, partly joking, but partly worried.  
The Sith Master had abandoned him, and he was likely turning away from the Dark, but he had no real reason to like Jedi or to think that they would accept him.  
"Don't worry about that now. - Obi-Wan tried to reassure him - I'll try to steer my thoughts as far away from Master Yoda as I can, is that OK?" he proposed, sitting down and trying to make himself comfortable.

Maul acquiesced. "Do you want to try something?" he asked.  
Obi-Wan nodded. "What do you have in mind?"  
"I've heard that if you concentrate really hard on something before you sleep, you'll dream of it. - Maul explained - Maybe we should choose one thing each and try."  
"Why one each and not both the same?" the Padawan objected.  
Maul shrugged. "Because it would be fun to see how they combine."  
"It will hardly make sense." Obi-Wan said.  
"Good things do not always make sense, someone told me. - Maul retorted, giving him a knowing look - I am still rather stoned, so it sounds like a good idea to me, but I am open to alternatives." he conceded.

Obi-Wan hesitated a moment, then acquiesced. He liked the fact that he was feeling confident enough to take the initiative and wanted to encourage him. Plus, it sounded potentially hilarious.  
"Let's give it a try. I'll think about fish." he proposed.  
"Why fish?" Maul asked, rolling his eyes.  
"And why not? It's not supposed to make sense anyway." Obi-Wan replied.  
Maul chuckled and shook his head. "Fair enough. - he conceded - I'll think about speeder bikes, instead." he added  
"It will end up being a dream about feminism." Obi-Wan chuckled.  
"Why feminism?" Maul asked, looking utterly confused.  
"Because it is the only context I can think of where fish and speeders make sense together." Obi-Wan explained, still chuckling.  
The Zabrak looked at him as if he was totally nuts and that made him laugh even more.  
"They say that a woman needs a man like a fish needs a speeder bike." he clarified.  
Maul tilted his head doubtfully. "I am starting to realise that everyone needs at least a person to care for them." he objected.  
"Well, I also think it is true. - Obi-Wan replied with a smile - But I think that the feminists meant it more in the sense that women don't need to belong to a man to be complete. That their lives make sense on their own." he explained.  
"Well, of course." Maul replied, looking confused.  
"It is not that obvious to many, both men and women." Obi-Wan retorted.  
Maul hesitated a moment. "You're right. - he assented finally, sighing and hanging his head - When you are someone's property, they tell you that you are nothing without them, and you believe it. It's hard to stop believing it." he confessed wryly.  
"Give it time, you'll see that it will get a bit easier every day." the Padawan reassured him, yawning towards the end. "Sorry!" he said, stifling another yawn.  
Maul yawned as well. "It's my fault. I am being logorrhoic again. Let's stop talking and take this nap, shall we?" he proposed, letting his eyes shut again.  
"Yes, let's." Obi-Wan approved, closing his eyes against the glare of the day filtering through the window.

Maul rumbled something that could have sounded like "good night" and hit the control for the blinds, bathing the room in penumbra.  
Obi-Wan smiled and relaxed, then started thinking really hard about fish, hard enough to blot out Master Fisto and the Sith bastard, all the worry and all the insecurity.  
His last thought before a scaly, squirming darkness overtook him, was that it would be a crazy adventure.


	7. On the Line

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Star Wars characters. I do own the OCs, though. I do not make a £ from this.**

Warning: a bit of bad language and a bit of politics

Thanks a lot to all the people who took the time to review, fave or put this fic in their alerts. Your appreciation means very much to me, but don't feel shy about providing constructive criticism. I am always willing to improve.  
Just excuse my British-isms, if you can. As every immigrant before me, I tend to imitate the language I am more exposed to.

I also wish to warn you in advance that this story will be rated M from next chapter, mostly for violence and dark themes. If you feel you cannot deal with an M-rated fic, PM me and we'll discuss about alternative special arrangements.

Apart from that, flame all you want, I'm fireproof.

* * *

When they arrived, Obi-Wan was as ready for them as he could ever be.  
Master Fisto had not come alone. At his side, Obi-Wan could sense a patrol of Palace Guards, concerned but determined.  
He could feel them advance through the corridors, confident and righteous, convinced that theirs was the only possible way of keeping everyone safe. Obi-Wan admired their resolve and selflessness, but he was equally resolute not to let their plans come to fruition.

He cast a last look at his still-sleeping charge and rose from his seat. He had changed back into his Jedi robes and his lightsaber, recovered from the bottom of the reactor by the maintenance squads, hung from his waist, its weight reassuring and familiar.  
He felt worried, scared even, but under the fear, a stony determination had pervaded his being. He knew he was risking much by opposing a Jedi Master, but he ran a far more serious risk by doing nothing, the risk of letting down a person he had grown to care for.  
And it was not as if Master Fisto could expel him from the Order on his own. That would require a full meeting of the Council and would probably have to wait until they all were back on Coruscant, and anyway he was not planning to do anything too extreme, like pulling a lightsaber on him.  
Master Fisto normally was an easy-going, friendly person, and he knew that he was acting out of the most noble intentions. If he could just talk to him calmly, he was confident that he could make him see reason.

The presences drew closer. It was time to act.  
Obi-Wan opened the door and stepped out just in front of the approaching Master Fisto. He crossed his arms and stood as tall and straight as possible just in front of the threshold, blocking the way. The Force enveloped him and he realised that he was doing more or less the same thing a cat or a dog would do to defend their territories, making himself look big and strong both in the material realm and in the Force. Put in that way, it sounded totally ridiculous, but as Master Fisto did the same, Obi-Wan realised it was deadly serious.

Fisto was nearly a foot taller than him, and at least ten years his senior, but as the Nautolan's Force-presence brushed against his, Obi-Wan had the feeling that if he really wanted, he could take on him and win. Their power was reasonably well-matched and he would have the advantage of surprise. He could drop a Force-blast to scatter the soldiers, and then it would be a matter of getting inside the taller man's reach and dealing an incapacitating blow. He wouldn't need to kill him, just to knock him out for a while.  
A headbutt to the nose, or a punch to the jaw would do, or even better, a slight pressure on the side of the neck, just above the carotid artery, and no matter how tall, the Nautolan would fold to the ground like a wet sheet.  
Obi-Wan immediately recognised where those thoughts were coming from, he was borrowing Maul's combat-readiness and hyperfocus, and pushed them aside with relative ease.  
That was the last possible resort, the option that would probably cast him beyond the pale, even if no lasting damage was dealt.  
Negotiation first, _teras käsi_ later, if ever.

"Step aside, Padawan Kenobi." Master Fisto ordered, hopefully unaware of his train of thoughts.  
"Sorry, Master, but I don't think I will." Obi-Wan replied, trying to soften his words with a goofy smile.  
"I don't think you understand the seriousness of the situation, young man." the Nautolan declared, still outwardly calm, but Obi-Wan could feel that his temper was rising. He felt confused and frustrated and most likely didn't understand why Obi-Wan was disobeying a direct order, why he was trying to protect a Darksider as if his welfare was paramount.  
If only he could make Master Fisto understand his reasons!

"In fact, I do, Master. - Obi-Wan replied - And if I don't, I hope that at least Grand Master Yoda had understood it, when he gave me the task to oversee the rehabilitation of the prisoner." he added cheekily, confiding in the fact that the mention of superior orders would give Master Fisto some pause.  
The Nautolan glared at him. "If ever such a thing can be achieved." he scoffed.  
"Master Yoda believes so. And I must say that the results are quite encouraging so far." Obi-Wan insisted, smiling peacefully.  
"Yes, if the Sith is not deceiving you on all counts. - Master Fisto insisted - They are masters of deception, Padawan Kenobi. This one might be luring you into thinking that he is changing, but how do you know for sure?" he added.  
Obi-Wan shrugged. "I don't. But I have no proof of the contrary either. When one ever does in interpersonal relationships? - he commented airily - I am giving him the benefit of the doubt, for now. It would be counter-productive to do otherwise. Antagonising a potential witness, or even a potential refugee? That's a no-no, as far as I know."  
"It is a risk that you might be willing to take, for Grand Master Yoda or for your own personal reasons, - Master Fisto retorted dryly - but I cannot and will not allow you to put others at risk. This is a hospital. Think of all the non-forceful civilians the Sith could be endangering! Think of the doctors who are trying to do their jobs!"  
"I bet you are thinking of one doctor in particular..." Obi-Wan thought.  
"Doctor Naberrie concurs with me, as you surely know." he said out loud.

That was enough to make the Nautolan darken with emotion.  
"Doctor Naberrie is too trusting for her own good. She does not recognise the true magnitude of the risk." he declared, struggling to keep his cool.  
"Are you implying that she is not Forceful enough to be trusted to take her own decisions?" Obi-Wan asked, feigning innocence.  
That gave him pause. "That's not what I said." he protested, looking rather dismayed.  
"That was how it sounded. - Obi-Wan insisted - Doc and I are the only two people involved in delivering medical assistance to Maul..."  
"Ah right, you are a close chum of that.. of that Sith, now..." Master Fisto spat, unable to find a worse expletive.  
"It is called trying to build a rapport. It is a negotiation technique. - Obi-Wan explained patiently - He can hardly be expected to switch to our side and help us find the Master, if we treat him like an enemy."  
"A Sith, switch to the Light? That has never happened before, and will never happen in future. Once you fall, there is no way back." he declared, glaring at him and Obi-Wan realised that Master Fisto was warning him of his own fate, or at least thought he was.  
The Padawan took a deep breath and shook his head. "Loads of things never happened before, until they happened. Think of hyperspace travel... - he explained - I've told this to the Elders of the Council once already. Didn't they brief you before they sent you here? This is a special case." he declared, adamant.  
"The only special thing here is your willingness to be deceived, Padawan. - Master Fisto objected - What are you trying to prove? That you are better than everyone else? That you can succeed where everyone else has failed throughout history?" he asked, taking a menacing step forward.  
"I am not trying to prove anything. - Obi-Wan retorted - I am choosing to hope that people can change. I am trying to help."  
"You are being reckless and willful, like a spoiled youngling. - Master Fisto declared - Your desire for certain things to happen doesn't make them more true." he added patronisingly.  
Obi-Wan felt a surge of irritation at his words and tried to will it into nothingness, but that gave Master Fisto the time for another jab.  
"And we foolishly thought that your permanence in the Agri-Corps had cured you of your hubris..." he commented, dramatically waving a hand in the air.

The Padawan's heart skipped a beat and he could feel the tiny shard of Dark that he carried inside himself bloom in anger.  
Damned Fisto, he thought. Why did he have to bring that up now, after more than ten years? Did he think that he could humiliate him into submission? That was so not going to happen.  
"Says the guy who is convinced that he already knows everything... - he spat - What is more hubris? Working hard to help a fellow sentient, or denying that help in the name of an old dogma?" he asked, unable to prevent his voice from rising.  
"It is not a dogma! It is reality! - Master Fisto shouted back - You can either accept it or not, but you cannot change it!"  
Obi-Wan took a deep breath to prevent himself from punching the Nautolan in the jaw and stop his yammering.  
"You know what, Master? You are right. I can't change things." he admitted.  
Master Fisto looked at him with confusion painted all over his green face. The words he was hearing must sound like victory to him, but he must be realising that his expression didn't match them.  
"He can. - Obi-Wan continued, jabbing his pointing to the door at his back over his shoulder - What I can and I will do, is give him the support and the trust he needs to change them. And that includes barring from his door people who are too busy cowering in fear to trust the Force." he added, delivering the final jab with a seraphic smile.  
"You are overstepping your bounds, Padawan Kenobi!" Master Fisto threatened, clenching his hands tightly at his sides.  
"No, Master. You are overstepping yours. - Obi-Wan retorted decisively, refusing to let himself be intimidated - I had my orders from Grand Master Yoda in person. If you have issues with that, I suggest you discuss the matter with him. Until then, I will carry on my mission as I see best, and I suggest that you do the same. Oh, and by the way, Anakin is participating in a training event this afternoon, in case you were looking for him..." he added with vicious satisfaction, calling him out on his ruse.

Master Fisto became nearly olive-green with anger. His head-tentacles slithered like snakes, which was rather creepy, and, most worryingly, his hand subconsciously dropped towards the hilt of his saber.  
Instinctively, Obi-Wan perked up, standing tall and relaxing his shoulders and arms to prepare himself for a fast draw or an even faster surprise attack. Maybe that _teras käsi_ plan B would come in handy after all, he thought.  
He held the Nautolan's smouldering solid-black gaze and slowly let his reach expand through the Force, trying to feel his opponent's intentions, trying to detect the moment when shit was going to hit the fan before it did. To complicate matters, the Palace Guards were also getting edgy, and edgy people with weapons were notoriously trigger-happy.  
"Oh, what a mess..." Obi-Wan thought, feeling one of the soldiers approaching the end of his tether.

"Soldiers of Naboo! - a female voice shouted, from the end of the corridor - By order of the Queen, stand down!"  
The soldiers immediately turned towards the voice and even Obi-Wan risked a glance. One of the Queen's handmaidens was stalking towards them with as much of a commanding attitude as a five-foot-four adolescent could muster.  
Her face was partly obscured by the hood of her office robes, but even so, Obi-Wan had the distinct impression that the girl was none other than Queen Amidala herself, under her now-usual disguise.  
Doc trailed her, looking quite harried but victorious. Amidala was on their side, then.  
Obi-Wan took a deep breath in relief and allowed himself to relax a fraction.

"What is the matter, Handmaiden?" Master Fisto asked, turning towards the two women with evident irritation.  
"It has been brought to Her Majesty's attention that you want to place the prisoner under restraints." Padmè said.  
The Nautolan nodded. "That is correct." he assented.  
"Her Majesty wishes to inform you that, according to the Naboo law, wounded prisoners-of-war can only be placed under restraints if they break their parole." Padmè continued calmly.  
"The Sith is a prisoner of the Jedi Order." Master Fisto retorted.  
"But you are still operating under Naboo jurisdiction, Master." she objected politely.  
"Parole, eh? - Fisto commented with evident sarcasm - What is parole to a Sith, I wonder?"  
Padmè ignored his comment. "Has the Sith given you his parole, Padawan Kenobi?" she asked, turning towards him.  
"He has." Obi-Wan replied with absolute certainty. Never in so many words, but without any shadow of doubt.  
"The case is clear, then. - Padmè declared, nodding to herself - If the prisoner does not resume hostilities, it would be unlawful to place him under restrains, both by Naboo law and by the Glactic Convention on Sentient Rights." she added with finality.  
"When the Sith resumes hostilities, it will be too late to restrain him! - the Nautolan fumed - In the interest of safety, he must not be left free to cause harm!" he insisted.  
"I am afraid we cannot lawfully allow you to do that." Padmè replied calmly, with a minute shake of her hooded head.  
"This is ridiculous! - Master Fisto exclaimed - I request to speak directly to the Queen on this matter."  
"I will convey your request to Her Majesty. - Padmè agreed with a sketchy bow - Her staff will let you know in the morrow." she added.  
Obi-Wan had to bite the inside of his cheek quite hard to prevent himself from chuckling.

Master Fisto looked like he was totally going to blow a gasket. He looked beyond Padmè, towards Doc, who was standing there stone-faced and silent. They exchanged a long, silent look, then Master Fisto looked away.  
"I see..." he murmured sadly then turned and walked away without even a semblance of a by-your-leave, head bowed and shoulders slumped in defeat. All his anger had dissipated, leaving a sad, melancholy feeling in its wake. Obi-Wan turned towards Doc. That feeling had infected her as well, and she watched him walk away with a wistful, almost yearning expression.  
"I'll talk to him." she said to Padmè. The young woman nodded and Doc followed Fisto's trail at a brisk pace.

"We apologise for our conduct, Handmaiden. We thought the Jedi Master was acting according to the Queen's wishes." the leader of the Guards declared in the ensuing silence. He looked confused and possibly guilty and Obi-Wan imagined that he would be worrying about his position, as he had, in effect, aided an illegal activity.  
Padmè sighed. "I am sure you were acting in good faith, Sergeant." she assented.  
"What are our orders, then?" he asked with evident relief.  
"You are to return to your usual stations and carry on with your duties." Padmè replied without hesitation.  
It was the Sergeant who hesitated instead. "Do you want us to make rounds in this corridor, just in case?" he asked.  
"There is no need for that. - she replied - The prisoner has given his parole and Padawan Kenobi is more than enough to restrain him, if need be." she added, casting Obi-Wan a significant look.  
"As you wish, Handmaiden. We will be on our way." the Sergeant said, trying to mask his perplexity.  
"Company! About-face! March!" he ordered, and the men under his command turned smartly on their heels and marched away, leaving him and Padmè alone in the corridor.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. You got us out of a really tight spot. " Obi-Wan said quietly.  
Padmè smiled."How many times do i have to tell you to call me by name, Obi-Wan? - she chided him gently - And it's not me you have to thank, but Aunt Sadé. She was very convincing and vocal in furthering your friend's cause." she added.  
This time, Obi-Wan didn't see the point in correcting her and let it be. "Still, it was you who put your credibility on the line. For this, you have my gratitude." he insisted.  
"It's not as if I lied. Everything I said is actually true by law." she retorted with a graceful shrug.  
"I never imagined the contrary." Obi-Wan said.  
Another smile appeared on her face, but he could sense some unease, some tension in the lines of her visage.  
"The prisoner... Maul... - she said with some effort - Is he awake?" she asked.  
Obi-Wan considered lying to her to let Maul have another afternoon of peace, but looking at the steely expression on Padmè's face, he almost immediately discarded the idea.  
"Yes, he is." he replied.  
Maul had woken up sometime during his face-off with Master Fisto, roused either by their raised voices or by the aggressive vibes coming from him through the link they were still sharing.  
"I need to talk to him." Padmè declared, and what was Obi-Wan supposed to reply to that, after what she had done for him and Maul?  
"Alright." he had to concede.  
He couldn't stall for time either. The only advance warning he could give Maul to make the experience even slightly less stressful was a mental nudge along the lines of "We got company!".

Maul was wide awake when they got in the room, half-sitting against the raised slope of the bed. He acknowledged Obi-Wan with a look, a nod and a pulse through the link, and then turned an intense gaze towards Padmè.  
Obi-Wan forced a smile as the two locked stares in silence, as trying to decipher each other.  
"Hi, Maul. - he said cheerfully - Sorry for barging on you like this... This is Handmaiden Padmè." he added, trying to break the ice.  
"This is no Handmaiden. This is Queen Amidala." Maul retorted without batting an eye.  
Padmè lost her composure, looking first at Maul and then at Obi-Wan with surprise and dismay.  
"Did you...?!" she started, quite evidently incensed.  
"I did not say a word, I swear!" Obi-Wan tried to exculpate himself. He had even tried not to think much about it, in case Maul could catch the information by chance.  
"There was no need for him to tell me anything. - Maul intervened quietly - Some face paint and a change of clothes can fool many people, but I research my hits thoroughly. I can recognise your face beyond your disguise, Your Majesty." he declared.  
Padmè pulled her hood down with an irritated gesture and crossed her arms over her chest. "Damn it! - she cursed - So what, would you have killed me, if Master Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan hadn't crossed your path?"  
"Not really. I just had to kidnap you." Maul retorted.  
"And deliver me to Gunray." Padmè continued.  
"Unfortunately." Maul assented, grimacing in disgust.  
Padmè let a low, nervous chuckle escape her lips. "So it's not just me. No one actually likes him." she commented.  
Maul nodded. "Trade Federation officers are not even worth the effort it takes to kill them." he said.  
"You sound like you are speaking out of experience..." Padmè insinuated.  
"And what if I do?" Maul retorted, crossing his arms as well.  
"Why did your Master ally himself with them, then?" Padmè asked, avoiding his question.  
Maul sighed and shook his head. "To make the Republic and the Jedi look like ineffective, weak fools. I thought it was obvious." he replied with a sneer.  
"Not that ineffective, after all." she retorted, casting a sharp glance towards him.

Even if it was very hard to tell, Obi-Wan had the impression that Maul had blushed at her words.  
"Not at all... - he conceded, briefly looking at Obi-Wan - If you consider specific individuals. But the system... If Valorum hadn't acted outside of normal procedure, the Senate would still be discussing the matter, and you would have been forced to sign that treaty, whether you wanted or not." he added, still unwilling to concede.  
"The Senate would have sanctioned such an aggression." Padmè objected.  
Maul snorted. "The Senate is corrupt and myopic. There is no unified vision for the future of the Galaxy and most decisions are made to appease one lobby or another. - he retorted - Take the taxation of the trade routes, for example..."  
"What about it? - Padmè asked, frowning and crossing her arms - It was meant to support the economic growth of small systems, forcing them to rely less on imports and more on their own productive capabilities."  
"Speaking out of experience, eh?" Maul provoked.  
Padmè blushed and shot him a dark look. "The plasma fields have brought unprecedented prosperity to Naboo, but they have also induced our economy to be increasingly reliant on those revenues." she clarified.  
"And you don't want to end up like the all other systems gorged up on plasma-credits." Maul completed, still with a hint of sneer in his voice.  
"Well, would you want that for your people?" Padmè asked.  
"I don't actually belong to any people... - Maul objected with a shrug - But, no, I don't think I would." he added, melancholy.  
"So now you see why Naboo backed that resolution." Padmè concluded smugly.  
"In a perfect world, that would have made sense. - Maul conceded - But in reality... The Trade Federation has its reasons, as much as I dislike them." he argued, even as he grimaced in disgust.  
"Reasons?! - Padmè burst out - They are surely rich enough to be able to afford the payment." she retorted.  
"You've never been to the Outer Rim much, have you, Your Majesty? - Maul provoked, smirking knowingly - I bet Tattooine has been the farthest you have travelled Rimwards..."  
"So what?" Padmè objected, frowning in irritation.  
"So you have no idea of what's out there. - Maul jabbed - Why do you think the Federation needs so many capital ships? Because there are sectors in the Rim that are infested by pirates and slavers and raiders of all sorts. Places where the only safe way of travelling is in a convoy, with armed support." he explained, without leaving her the time to reply.  
"This must be a gross exaggeration." Padmè said with decision.  
Maul rolled his eyes and gestured towards Obi-Wan, encouraging him to partecipate in the discussion.

The Padawan until then had been entirely happy with watching the two of them butt heads, but now, as both the Queen and his charge looked at him expectantly, there was no way that he could exempt himself from contributing.  
"Unfortunately, this is quite accurate." he said with a sigh.  
Maul turned back towards Padmè with a smug expression.  
"The commercial guilds invest a lot of credits in keeping their routes and their cargo relatively safe. - he said - You can imagine how much it must chafe that the central Galactic government is demanding that they pay for something to which it has not contributed."  
"That is not true. The Outer Rim Security Force..." Padme started to object, but Maul didn't let her finish.  
"...Is understaffed and frankly inadequate. - he cut in - The Galactic government talks and talks, but does nothing. It can do nothing. It does not have an army and has to rely on mercs and the Jedi Order to fix things when they go pear-shaped."  
"We are sworn to keep the peace. It is only natural that they turn to us." Obi-Wan intervened, trying to smooth things out.  
"And you accept any assignement, without questioning." Maul continued.  
"And why do you think this is a bad idea?" Obi-Wan asked, rather confused.  
"The Galactic government is corrupt, right?" Maul asked.  
Obi-Wan nodded, feeling that he would not like where the conversation was going, but feeling also that he needed to see where it went.  
"Ever suspected that they were using you to do their dirty job?" Maul insisted.  
Padmè protested, incensed, and Obi-Wan would have liked to deny it as well, but deep down he knew that he could not. Not after what happened on Gallidaraan, not after a Jedi expedition had been sent into a trap against the Bando Gora on Baltizaar.  
"And what can we do? We can't oppose the Galactic Senate." Obi-Wan protested.  
"And why not? - Maul provoked - The system is rotten, and you people are the best placed to clean up things."  
"We are not the Galactic police." Obi-Wan objected, but that excuse sounded weak even to himself.  
"No, you are the violent arm of the Galactic law only against small fish." Maul spat.  
"We do not seek power for our own. We guarantee the Republican values." Obi-Wan insisted, steadfastly, supported by energetic nodding from Padmè.  
"Well, those values are being trampled for the sake of power and credits. And you are standing by and just watch as it happens. - Maul attacked, leaning towards Obi-Wan in the heat of the argument - You have power, whether you want it or not. By not exercising it, you appear too weak to solve anything, or accomplices of the corruption. Sidious used to say that you were the cause of the decadence of the Republic. Now I realise it is not true, but you aren't helping either! You could change everything, but you refuse to do it. That's suicidal!" he concluded, shaking his head.

Obi-Wan wished he could find the words to reply, to deny what Maul had just said, but part of him resonated with those words. The Jedi could make things better, but to act on that possibility...  
The seduction of power could prove too enticing, the temptation too strong. And then it would be a short, easy step to believing that the end justifies all sorts of means, all sorts of prevarication, all sorts of repression and cruelty, until they became worse than what they had set out to destroy.  
But if there was a way of changing things without falling?  
Shouldn't they be trying to find it, instead of pretending that the degeneration of the Republic was not happening?  
He, for one, refused to believe that it was beyond salvation and he couldn't be the only one.

Oppressed by doubts and in turmoil, Obi-Wan couldn't speak, could barely think coherently. He could feel Maul's eyes boring into him, he knew that he was waiting for him to reply, and he could feel that the more he waited, the more his charge's eagerness turned into anxiety and guilt. Maul must be already regretting that he had spoken so frankly and Obi-Wan wished he could reassure him, but he was locked in his own internal debate.  
It was Padmè who broke the impasse, instead.  
"I should have imagined it. - she commented - So the solution is a strong central government with a unified vision? A man of destiny to save us all? I am sure that your Master will be more than happy to play the role of the benevolent dictator..." she said, voice rising as she spoke.  
Her fair countenance coloured in indignation and her eyes sparkled, but that didn't make her look like a spoiled adolescent. Now more than ever she looked like a Queen, like a powerful being.  
Even Maul hesitated, faced with that outburst.

"I do not know what the solution is anymore. I am not even sure one exists. - he admitted softly, bowing his head in dejection - What I have learned, is that whatever Sidious' plan might be, it doesn't contemplate fixing the Republic or making things better. He doesn't care about it. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. He would not use his power to free, but to enslave, not to fix, but to break. He would make everyone a tool, or a plaything." he added, looking down at his hands, clenched into tight fists on the coverlet.  
_"Like me..."_ Obi-Wan heard through the link, and his heart broke a bit at the desolation contained in that thought.  
He stepped towards the bed and laid a hand on Maul's shoulder, squeezing it gently in reassurance.  
Maul sighed and raised his gaze towards Obi-Wan. "I was doing it again. I should try to get a grip on this..." he said with a wry smile.  
"There is no need. I promised you that I would listen to you." Obi-Wan replied.  
"Even so. I shouldn't burden you with my Dark Side nonsense." Maul added, laying a hand over Obi-Wan's.  
Padmè was looking at them in perplexed fascination, her expression softening by degrees.  
"It wasn't nonsense. - she said gently - Many people have concerns of that sort."  
Maul looked at her in surprise. "Really?!" he said.  
"Yes, really." she confirmed.  
"I never... I never dared to doubt before. But now I can't stop..." Maul admitted quietly.  
"I can't speak for the Jedi, but regular people do doubt. Welcome to normalcy. You'll get used to it eventually." Padmè commented, deadpan.  
Maul gave her a bemused look and shook his head.  
"Oh well, Jedi doubt as well, sometimes." Obi-Wan confessed, judging that honesty was more important than perceived authority.  
"Not so wise, then?" Maul provoked, but without malice.  
"And what is wisdom anyway? Already having all the answers, or asking the appropriate questions and accepting the answers without prejudice?" Obi-Wan retorted.  
Maul nodded, now serious, and sent a pulse of gratitude along the link.

"Sorry about lowering the standard of the discussion, guys, but I need to get down to my original business and leave, before my absence is remarked." Padmè chimed in, making them both turn towards her.  
"What can I do for you, Your Majesty?" Maul asked, directing one of his inquisitive looks at her.  
Padmè didn't baulk. "I need you to give me your parole that you will not initiate acts of hostility towards any Naboo citizen, or any person currently assisting the Naboo government." she declared, straight to the point.  
"With the latter you mean the Jedi." Maul observed.  
The Queen nodded. "And any official from the Galactic Senate." she added.  
"Why would you accept my parole as guarantee? - Maul asked, frowning - Are you not afraid I will lie? I considered myself a Sith after all..." he added quietly, shaking his head.  
"You gave your parole to Obi-Wan and he accepted it. So far you haven't broken it." Padmè explained.  
"It's not as if I can actually perform any act of hostility, in my situation." Maul had to clarify.  
"Would you, if you could?" she asked, leveling an equally penetrating stare at him.  
Maul hesistated again, and Obi-Wan could sense the conflict inside him between what Sidious had drilled into him and what he himself saw as right and wrong.

"I would not. - he said finally - You have sheltered me and prevented the Jedi to cause me harm. I won't initiate any hostility, but I reserve the right to defend myself in case of aggression." he proposed.  
Padmè nodded. "Of course, but I will ensure that it doesn't come to that. - she conceded - Do I have your word, then?" she insisted.  
"You do." Maul replied with a curt nod.  
"Let's shake on it." Padmè said, thrusting her right hand towards him.  
Maul looked at her hand in confusion, then cast a glance at Obi-Wan, who smiled and shrugged. The Zabrak sighed and grabbed the Queen's hand, making eye contact again, but warily this time.  
Padmè pumped his hand decisively. "It's done then." she commented, letting her hand fall to her side.  
"Yes..." Maul replied quietly, looking at his own hand in astonishment for a moment before raising his gaze to the Queen.  
"I'll leave you two to your own devices, then. I'll see you later." Padmè said, sighing and stretching.

Maul and Obi-Wan watched her leave in weary silence.  
"She is a bright one. And brave." Maul commented, flopping against the incline of the bed.  
"I knew you would like her." Obi-Wan said, winking playfully at his charge as he let himself fall on the chair next to the bed.  
No more than an hour must have passed in total since had risen from that same chair, but he felt as weary as if he had not slept for weeks on end.  
"I didn't say I liked her." Maul objected.  
"You didn't need to. It was kind of obvious." Obi-Wan replied.  
"I was told that non-forcefuls were weak, but she is as strong as durasteel wrapped in silk. Her and Doc both." the Zabrak said, closing his eyes for a moment.  
"Even if Doc is more like durasteel wrapped in surgical greens. - Obi-Wan continued, making his charge chuckle - How are you feeling, by the way?"  
"Exhausted. - Maul admitted - Apart from that, I don't know how I am feeling. I don't even know what I am supposed to be feeling." he added, grimacing in self-deprecation.

Obi-Wan scratched his chin, noting with chagrin that it was stubbly once more. Maybe he should just give up and grow a beard once and for all.  
"I am not sure there is a way people are supposed to be feeling, when in your situation. - he said - Whatever way you feel is fine, I think, as long as you accept it. I am always here, if you want to talk about it." he offered.  
A patterned hand came to rest on his and squeezed gently. "I will, but I think I have talked enough for today. - Maul whispered - Thank you, anyway. For this and for putting your career on the line for me." he added, a bit more strongly.  
Obi-Wan smiled, and squeezed back, trying to find the right words to say.  
"It wasn't as risky as that." he minimised, feeling awkward.  
"Still, you shouldn't have. It wasn't worth it. He only wanted to restrain me and I can take that. - Maul insisted - I am better now. It wouldn't have triggered anything." he added, but his haunted expression belied his confident words. He still hadn't managed to rebuild the walls of indifference he had protected himself with until then.  
"The fact that you can take something, doesn't necessarily mean that you should. - Obi-Wan retorted - You don't have to demonstrate anything to me. I know you are brave. I know you are strong. And taking risks for someone is par for the course when you care about them." he added, taking another big risk in revealing that last detail.  
If Maul was just manipulating him, he had just given him a key weapon to undermine him with, but if he was not, if his behaviour was genuine as he thought it was, he deserved to know that. He deserved to know that someone cared about him.

Maul regarded him in silence for a long moment, caught between hope and disbelief. A tendril of Force hovered at the edge of Obi-Wan's shields, but without actually making contact.  
The Padawan latched on to it with his own Force, and drew it in, past his shields, sensing the terrible hope and the terrible fear that emanated from his nemesis.  
Fear melted away like snow in spring, leaving something bright and beautiful and warm like the sun, and for a moment Obi-Wan basked shamelessly into it, experiencing a strange and oddly satisfying mixture of deep peace and equally deep, complex passion. It only lasted a moment before Maul withdrew and retreated behind his newly-reformed shields, leaving only a thin link between them.

"What if Fisto is right? - he asked withdrawing his hand as well - What if I let you down in the end?"  
"You won't, I am sure of it. - Obi-Wan reassured him, feeling a pang of rejection at the sudden break of contact - I believe in you. I believe that if you can do whatever you set yourself to do, no matter how hard. You will find a way." he added, trying to put all his conviction into his words and thoughts.  
"I suppose I am that stubborn..." Maul joked, but he didn't look amused.  
He looked deadly serious and Obi-Wan could feel the fire of his Force rise in him, as strong as when he had first met him, but clearer, as if the smoke surrounding it had dispersed.  
There were still bits of darkness clinging to it, but he was sure that they would disappear in time.  
It was amazing.  
"Resolute sounds better." Obi-Wan replied with a smile and this time Maul smiled back and relaxed his control on the link.  
"We are both rather resolute, then." he joked, extending his hand in search of contact again.  
Obi-Wan took it and nodded. "The Galaxy ain't seen nothing yet..." he declared, hinting at possibilities to come, at adventures, at laughter and companionship, at life as it was supposed to be.  
A flash of hope and yearning passed over Maul's eyes and he sat up a bit straighter in the bed. "No, they have not. The best is yet to come." he promised.


End file.
